About Festival

Bigger, messier, and glitzier than its Venice and Berlin counterparts, the legendary Festival du Cannes (founded in 1946) is a holy grail of sorts for industry professionals and cinema pilgrims who have the opportunity to attend. But it is also a notoriously surreal, media-choked affair for the oceanfront resort town of 70,000, which swells with tens of thousands of visitors and eccentric hangers-on during the twelve-day event. All eyes are on the high-wattage red carpet, the exclusive events at the Palais du Festival, and of course the crowds—oh, the crowds!—promenading along the Boulevard de la Croisette. But for movie lovers, it's the films that really take center stage.

This year's competitors for the prestigious Palme D'Or include a who's who of top-class imagemakers debuting new work for a jury headed by Into the Wild director Sean Penn. Among them are Clint Eastwood, Atom Egoyan, Walter Salles, Lucretia Martel, the Dardenne Brothers, Arnaud Desplechin, Steven Soderbergh, and Wim Wenders. Two additional sections of the fest, International Critics' Week and the Director's Fortnight (which was born in the heat of the May '68 student protests and is celebrating its 40th anniversary), showcase exciting new films by up-and-coming talent. Perhaps the best place to make new discoveries, though, is in the Un Certain Regard sidebar, which has in the past bestowed its top prize to Jafar Panahi, Ousmane Sembene, and Cristi Puiu.