During the week of May 14, the 77th Annual Cannes Film Festival was held in France and opened to the public. With over 120 featured films, the festival is a culmination of every genre of cinema imaginable and has easily become a staple in the film industry. The Cannes Film Festival is rich not only in history, but also in the creation of movies by some of the most talented filmmakers in the world. Located in the picturesque city of Cannes in the south of France, people are drawn to this exclusive event to see both the newest films and the beautiful, scenic location. This annual international festival urges actors and moviemakers to come together and share their work in a beautiful environment.
“The scenery surrounding the festival is the cherry on top because people are able to enjoy beautiful creations in one of the prettiest places in the world,” said junior Emma Goldberg.
The Cannes Film Festival is highly regarded in the film world, and is considered to be part of the “big three” of European film festivals, with the other two being in Berlin and Venice. The current president of the organization is Iris Knobloch, who is also the first female to serve as president of the organization. A unique aspect of the Cannes festival is that it does not conform to current trends or further advertise commercial media. Its roots date back to 1938 when it was first created, and still has the same goal today: to spark genuine creation and appreciation of art, not just praising celebrities. The beginnings of the festival stemmed from political turmoil, as it was originally created to counter the Venice Film Festival in 1937, due to the infamous Italian dictator Benito Mussolini rigging the awards so that the French pacifist film La Grande Illusion wouldn’t win. This enraged many from nations including France, Britain, and the United States, who all removed themselves from the Venice Festival. France decided to refocus their efforts into a festival of their own, which led to the creation of the International Film Festival (its official name until 2003).
“So much of today’s media is commercialized that it is refreshing to see something that hasn’t sold out yet and continues to bring authenticity to Hollywood,” said junior Dylan Saunders.
Aside from its influence on the art world, there have been a few controversies relating to the red carpet at Cannes. The outfits worn by celebrities are extravagant and naturally draw a lot of media attention to the festival. It came as a shock to many of the featured actors when they learned that selfies were banned from being taken on the carpet. Additionally, there were many cases where women who came to walk the carpet were turned away if they weren’t wearing heels. This outraged many, causing many actresses to purposely wear flats, or no shoes at all, in protest.
The top three big titles featured this year all greatly differed from each other. One dystopian action film which received a lot of attention was Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. This production by George Millers received many opposing reviews but was still highly viewed at the festival. Francis Ford Coppola’s Sci-Fi drama Megalopolis was claimed by viewers to be a very strange, but well done film. It even involved real people coming in front of the screen, which gave the viewer a feeling of “breaking the fourth wall.” Kevin Costner’s western drama Horizon: An American Saga- Chapter 1 had received an 11 minute standing ovation, nothing new for the festival, as it has a reputation for having overly-long applauses. It has been said that it is less about clapping in response to the brilliance of the film, but more so appreciating that everyone in the room is equally excited and invested in what is being created around them. This year’s longest applause lasted 22 minutes, and was for Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth.
“I’ve seen videos about how long the applause is at the festival and I think that it is a sweet and unique aspect to the festival,” said junior Emma Gannon.
The Cannes Film Festival is an epicenter of film and an artistic outlet for movie makers internationally. It is one of the biggest events of the year, regarding both pop culture and filmmaking, and a beautiful showcase of versatile art that anyone can tune into and enjoy.