Cannes Film festival
The world’s first annual international film festival was inaugurated at Venice in 1932 but was mostly controlled by the Fascists and Nazi propaganda for the rest of its existence. Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler dictated the choices of films and shared the prizes among themselves. The Cannes film festival was established by France to get rid of this dictatorship and the film festival was announced in Paris.
The first Cannes festival was scheduled on September 1st but unfortunately had to be cancelled because of Hitler’s invasion of Poland the same day and the French government ordered a general mobilization. They only had the time to film one film: “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” By German American director William Dieterle.
After World War II, which lasted six long years, the French Government approved a revival of Festival De Cannes as a means of attracting tourists back to the French Riviera. 18 nations represented the festival. The organizers emphasized on creative stimulation between national productions than on the competition. Nine films were honored the top award: Grand Prix Du Festival.
Although the festival did stumble through its early years, with the 1948 and 1950 festivals cancelled due to economic reasons. ThePalme d’Or (Golden Palm) for the best film of the festival was introduced only in 1955. In the 1950s, the festival has started gaining international proclamation and began to be known as the most prestigious film festival in the world. It still holds that allure today with more than 30000 thousand people coming to Cannes each May to attend the festival.
70th Cannes Film Festival
The newest edition to this international phenomenon will be taking place from 17th to 28th May. The beautiful Monica Belluci will be hosting the opening & the closing ceremonies of the grand festival with Pedro Almodovar, a Spanish film director and screenwriter being selected as the President of the Jury for the festival. Ismael’s Ghosts have been selected as the opening film for the festival.
Afternoon Clouds a film directed by Payal Kapadia who is a student of the Film &the Television institute of India has been invited to participate in the Cinefondation Selection of the festival. Bollywood superstars like Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor and Aishwaria Rai will walk the red carpet as brand ambassadors of L’Oreal Paris.
While Aishwaria Rai Bachan and Sonam Kapoor started their Cannes journey in 2002 and 2011 respectively, Deepika Padukone is all set to make her debut appearance at the festival. A R Rahman, one of the greatest composers from India will also be walking the red carpet with the lead cast, directors and producers of the film Sangamithra. Shruti Hassan will also make her Cannes debut with Sangamithra.
With a star studded days to come, let’s look forward to a great and inspiring work from everyone and hope that the greatest will be awarded.
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