To begin with, Cannes film festival originated in 1938. The founders Jay Zay, the French minister of education, Philippe Erlanger and film journalist Robert Favre Le Bret initiated Cannes film festival. Cannes film festival was created in competition with the Venice film festival which at the time was the only other international film festival and was widely criticised for its fascist bias by the press and public. Prior to Cannes film festival was called “festival international de film” in French or “international film festival” in English. The first festival was scheduled in 1939 from the 1st- 20th of September. Every country had a choice of what film they put forward to the competition. This was to emphasise the message of internationality and more importantly unity as the first proper international film festival, making the message of unity very clear. The increasingly high risk of war meant that the first festival was postponed for a further 6 years meaning the first post war debut of the festival was in 1946 after much anticipation. With drastic improvements the 72nd edition of the festival described as “the show must go on” by Vogue magazine. Despite a drastic year dealing with a world pandemic, both Cannes film festival and Venice film festival showed their resilience although having to have to adapt so intensely to such what is one of the most unprecedented times we have ever had.
In the beginning, the first film festival was introduced by “Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's (1883–1945) enthusiasm for motion pictures as a tool for political public relations and propaganda”. The idea that films, moving images and things like posters had huge trust within the public so whatever was said the public took as truth.
The longevity of Cannes film festival is based on the success to stay true to its mission. “The aim to draw attention and raise the profile of films as well as contributing to the development of cinema and, boosting the film industry worldwide and celebrating cinema at an international level” an important aim for many if not most film festivals to achieve. The success of Cannes film festivals for the past 72 years has always been the main objective of their loyalty towards the beliefs and ideologies. Cannes film festival is always raising the prestige of their films and promoting the film industry all over the world, attracting the best film makers in the world. Cannes being a beautiful city gives the festival a huge advantage as a tourist attraction, meaning it gives the audience another reason to visit and tour.
Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong the Chair of the Department of Media Culture at the College of Staten Island, believes that although not many people see and undermine it “the relationship of film festivals to film production; and the idea of festivals as public spheres.” Is very much linked together in the sense that film festivals and are a very important factor promoting films as well as people coming together. Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong on the hunt to find the definition of film festivals and why the have come to be. Traveling around the world to explore the history of major festivals two of them being Venice and Cannes Her work has been very beneficial within the film industry. Within the research Wong was carrying out, Wong also tries to understand competitive side of festivals and weather its healthy, this also links back to the fact that Cannes film festival was created in in competition with Venice film festival.
It has always been a known fact that festivals come under a lot of criticism for their underrepresentation of certain cultures and ethnicities, in addition to the huge gender bias. This year more than ever there are expectations that have not and physically could not be met. Due to the world pandemic the 72nd annual festival was put on hold. Although even when announced there was not much interest especially when the movies that would be playing. It has been criticised by press for example Showbiz for example. “if this had been the actual list this year, I couldn’t have gone. It would not have been feasible financially. And I doubt the trade papers would have sent their usual armies of reporters”. Although the annual festival was cancelled due to the world health crisis, it has also protected the prestige reputation of the festival as it was inevitably not going to be the best turn out. This is evident through the press coverage and the list of movies that were planned for release for this year.
Another example of this is “Finn Halligan, chief film critic at Screen Daily, said this year's offering was not up to the standard of last year - which saw the Palme d'Or go to Ken Loach for I, Daniel Blake, with Oscar nominated Elle also debuting.” Film festivals have always been under huge criticism due to the huge white male dominance, movements such as the #METOO movement although there have been many improvements made since the 2017 when the movement began there is still definitely a long way to go and an example of this is the black lives matter movement although not in the film industry it has caused a storm on social media and still continues to make a stand. The fight for equality is still very present even in 2021. The argument of underrepresentation which is one Cannes and many other film festivals are trying to fight.
Film festivals thrive though audience participation even more so this year in 2020 with people craving social interaction, there was a huge amount of pressure for film festivals such as Cannes and Venice to still carry on and although may be extremely different with everything being transferred online audiences and events get used to a new way of running and people get used to a brand-new way of living. Although the idea of an audience being in a huge screen room together is near impossible currently, A lot of film festivals like the BFI film festival have tried transferring their events online and being a huge success. However, People still long the social aspect of film festivals and replacing them with virtual events just does not have the same effect. Cannes film festival traditionally runs every May. Although this year due to the world pandemic the Cannes film festival did not go ahead. The whole film industry has had to adapt so quickly in such a sort amount of time to help prevent the spread of COVID `19. The production of films has had to be a lot more distanced and take necessary precautions i.e. testing the whole crew regularly. Another example is Strictly come dancing formed safety bubbles in order to be able to run. Going from a fast paced, modern environment that we are used and been forced to slow down and in some even put to a complete stop for the time being just like Cannes.
Film festivals are a way of bringing people together. Making the event feel special and a unique experience as the viewer gets a first-hand early access to movies that have never been seen before. This gives the viewer a more intimate feeling. Film festivals are around to build reputation and hype around movies, the marketing noise of the film. Any film maker small or large need to marketing order to build a campaign round the film. Film festivals are a way of networking. Test screenings are also an important factor. This is to see how the audience responds to the film. The idea that the film is tested on certain amount of people allows them to get a vague idea of how the general public will perceive the movie. Having a test run also allows the film maker to minimise any mistakes they think they could have made for example cutting a certain scene out. For your film to have the best chances of success keeping the film under 10 minutes has always been a good advice. All these aspects have a huge impact on the future success of the film. Enabling the film maker to market and adapt.
The most important thing is to ensure that you apply for the festival you think best fits your style of work and best defines you as a film maker and an artist. Once you apply film festivals do not get money back even if your film is not chosen. Therefore, it is important a film maker chooses the right festival so that it reaches the right target audience and gets the right reactions it deserves. Film makers use films as a form of art, a creative outlet. Film festivals are used as a way of showcasing them, just like an art gallery. Films that apply to film festivals are typically niche and are considered more of a form of art, bringing together Artist cinema this typically independent niche audience and is not aimed at a mass market audience often experimental and is aimed for aesthetic purposes rather than to be commercially viable. The term “Cinematic” opens up a lot of questions about what cinema means this is due to the fact that art is a very broad term and can be an that can be used as an attempt to define a lot of unique forms and mediums. With art being very subjective to every single person, it does also reinforce the notion that that film festivals are a form of exhibition of cinema t and once again cinema being a form of art and an expressive outlet.
During the 1990s A lot of appropriation of Classic Hollywood cinema happened as it was extremely popular so many film makers at the time would use the style “Artist Cinemas will focus on exploring the moving image as understood by people who make film. It is informed by the vulnerability and enchantment of the artistic process” this is something I believe Cannes festival and many other film festivals such as the BFI do exceptionally well as they have a good balance between commercial and niche films that may on the contrary not bring as much publicity or positive reviews and may be slightly more controversial with producing abstract forms and bring light to social issue that the government hide knowledge outside of academic frameworks that is vital for children to learn and form opinions on. Once again proving that film festivals are a form of art exhibition.
In conclusion film festivals have from a long time had an important value in showcasing films and are a huge part of the film industry and re-enforcing the art in cinematography, another aim of artist cinema and their niece target audience. Using cinema as a form of expression and it should always stay that way. The idea of festivals being a form of exhibition of films has always been around even when first used as a form of propaganda, although that notion might have been slightly pushed back now it is still very evident and clear.