THE leading lights from the world of film, accompanied by a huge army of hangers on, are descending on the Cote D'Azur for this year’s ‘Festival de Cannes’ which gets underway on May 11.
The brainchild of former French Minister for Education and Fine Arts Jean Zay, the Festival was initially set-up in direct competition to the Venice Film Festival and made a rather low-key debut in 1946.
In its infancy, the Festival was no more than an incestuous backslapping soiree in which virtually every entered film was awarded with a highly polished, but ultimately worthless, gong.
However, it has since grown into one of the most important events in the world of film and has taken place every May since 1952 with the much sought after ‘Palme d’Or’ now as highly regarded as an Oscar.
Awarded for the first time in 1955 to the film Marty, (directed by Delbert Mann) the Palme d’Or is handed to the film judged by an esteemed jury to be the best of that year. Previous winners include Apocalypse Now, Barton Fink, La Dolce Vita, Fahrenheit 9/11, The Go-Between, MASH, The Mission, The Pianist, Pulp Fiction, The Third Man and Taxi Driver.
For the third time in the Festival’s history, Robert De Niro will be this year’s Jury President, a regular visitor to Cannes and twice involved in Palme d’Or winners, Taxi Driver (1976) and The Mission (1986).
“The Cannes Film Festival is a rare opportunity for me as it is one of the oldest and one of the best in the world,” said De Niro. “I have an increased appreciation for the jury who serve, undertaking an important role in choosing films that are represented in the world of film at its highest level.”
Films likely to be contesting this year’s Palme d’Or include the joint Italian/French offering Habemus Papam directed by previous Palme d’Or winner Nanni Moretti, Japan’s Death of a Samurai (Takashi Miike), Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen), The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick) and We Need To Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay), starring Tilda Swinton.
A milestone was reached in 1993 when Jane Campion became the first female to be handed the Palme d’Or after directing The Piano. Four years later at the 50th Festival, controversy reigned when the organiser’s decided to honour Swedish legend Ingmar Bergman with a one-off tribute, the ‘Palme des Palmes’ – however Bergman, for reasons known only to himself, declined to travel to Cannes to accept the award.
In 1947 a storm resulted in the roof of the Palais des Festivals being blown off, while in 1954 Prince Rainier of Monaco met his future wife, Grace Kelly. In 1957, Miss Festival, Simone Sylva, appeared topless on the beach next to Robert Mitchum, a stunt that saw her stripped of her title and banished from Cannes.
Influential film commentator and director Francois Truffaut was once banned from Cannes as a critic but returned in triumph in 1959 to receive the Palme d’Or for Les Quatre Cents Coups (The 400 Blows.)
Almost a quarter of a million people including A Listers, Z listers, producers, directors and celebrity stalkers descend on Cannes for the duration of the Festival each year hoping to catch the eye and attention of some of the attending 4000 members of the press corps and secure some much sought after column inches in a bid to either boost or revive their careers.
However, a ringing endorsement at Cannes can sometimes backfire as it did with Thai Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives which was universally panned by critics and subsequently labeled ‘pointless, obscure and excruciatingly boring.
This year’s ‘Festival de Cannes takes place between May 11-22. For further information please visit www.festival-cannes.com and www.cannestouristinformation.co.uk