The Cannes International Film Festival

The first feline to have left its print in cinema was Krazy Kat, hero of a series of animated short films first aired in 1916. It adapted a comic strip by George Herriman. 22 years after the first apparition of a cat on screen, the Cannes International Film Festival was created – as a statement against fascism. 105 years after Krazy Kat’s debut, what is the Cannes Film Festival like?

French Minister of National Education Jean Zay, in 1938, alongside historian Philippe Erlanger and film journalist Robert Favre Le Bret, decided to create an international cinematographic festival. The French desired to compete with the Venice Film Festival – the only international film festival at the time - which had been tainted by Mussolini’s fascism. Mussolini was interfering into the jury’s decisions to put forward the films that fitted his agenda. In 1938, the Coppa Mussolini for Best film was attributed to the war film Luciano Serra, Pilot, produced by Mussolini’s own son…and the award for Best foreign film was given to the movie Olympia, a German documentary about the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics produced in association with the Nazi Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. In an urge for protest, the French, British and American jury members withdrew from the festival. The French were therefore encouraged to create their own festival and found support in their historic, diplomatic allies. The French Government hesitated between Biarritz, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the Southwest, Nice, and Cannes - both on the French Riviera – to hold their own festival. The Government chose Cannes for its geographical appeal but also because the Mairie (city hall) offered to increase their own financial participation which included the promise of building a dedicated venue for the Festival. This venue only completely came to life in 1977, replacing an old casino in which the Festival had been taking place so far. The Palais des Festivals looks like a big, modern boat, right near Cannes’ harbour, almost touching the Mediterranean sea, and facing the beautiful Lérins islands.

The first edition of the Festival was planned from the 1st to 20th of September 1939, and Louis Lumière, (who…invented cinema with his brother Auguste!), was supposed to be the honorary president. Big Hollywood stars such as Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Mae West or Spencer Tracy were sent to Cannes from the U.S.A by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Ocean liner on t. On the 1st of September however, German troops invaded Poland. The Festival was on hold, and finally cancelled on the 3rd of September when France and the United Kingdom declared war against Germany. The Festival had to wait until the end of the Second World War, in 1946, to be launched. The official aim of Cannes is to ‘encourage the development of all forms of cinematographic art and foster a spirit of collaboration between film-producing countries’. Throughout the second half of the 21st century, the Festival expanded from its original simple concept of putting in competition films from all over the world. The Marché du Film (Film Market) was created to facilitate exchanges between buyers and sellers of the film industry and is now the first international platform for film commerce. The International Critics’ Week appeared as the first of many parallel sections of the Festival and showcased first and second works only, by directors from the whole world. Un Certain Regard (a certain glance) is another parallel section which puts forward more unique and bold takes on film.

What is the Cannes Film Festival like in 2021? Well, I know what it is like and you could know too. The festival offers invitations to cinephiles aged 18-25 who proved their passion for the 7th art in a letter. This year, the Festival took place exceptionally in July instead of May because of COVID-19 issues. The 2021 edition was very close to the 1st edition of the Festival, in a way, since it followed a cancelled edition due to global events – in 2020, the Festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. To me, the modern Cannes Festival is a moment in the year, when all films are celebrated. All genres, all countries, all lengths; more or less traditional and innovative, more or less polished and scandalous…and no stupid blockbusters in the horizon. It welcomed blockbusters sometimes, if Tarantino’s movies are to be considered this way - but only the clever, independent ones which become blockbusters because of their immense quality. No blockbusters written to be blockbusters. It is a purely international festival, reminding us that the U.S. does not have a monopoly over cinema. It is so rich and precious.

Not only can you watch new, intriguing movies, but you can meet with people from the industry. I had the chance for instance, to attend a masterclass with director Steve McQueen (12 years a Slave). He was fascinating! His descriptions of movie-making made it all sound organic. He talked about ‘sphere’ actors instead of ‘cube’ actors. He wants his actors to be so ready that, just like a sphere rolling, whatever direction they take, it will be just. In contradiction with a cube which needs a push to move and can only go in straight lines. Fascinating!

The first thing I want to express is how heart-warming the experience is for anyone who loves cinema. I experienced the feeling of full rooms – like you never get in our modern world anymore. Rooms full of true cinephiles, who are truly capable of disappearing into the room, merging with their red velvet seats, mesmerized by the big screen. Any reaction, fear, or laughter is expressed without constraint and these reactions are empowered by such full rooms; one’s own laughter joins all the other laughs. At the sight of some production companies, joyful screams are heard, and they sound like a ‘thank you’; ‘thank you for giving life to small-budget movies!’. The Amazon Prime logo appeared before a movie once, I cannot remember which one, and the whole room booed. At the end of each film, people were respectfully applauding – and their applause was more or less strong and long depending on how much they liked the movie. Spontaneous applause in the middle of a film, at the sight of the Festival’s logo…Sometimes people were giving standing ovations, even if the team of the movie was not at the projection. It was an experience of interaction: with films, other spectators, and all the creators within cinema (from critics to distributors and if lucky, the directors themselves!). How precious it was to have witnessed directors in the rooms with us, finally ready to show us the fruit of their long work. It simply felt so pure to be completely removed from the commercial aspect which consumed modern experiences of cinema. I was not a customer getting the service or the good I paid for (“if I pay for it why would I need to pay respect, to applaud, the film owes me to be good!!!”), I was a cinema lover, watching 5 movies a day because I simply love it. And the people around me were all in the same mindset, a mindset that felt more like a natural instinct.

Daily, I watched 4 to 5 movies – and did not even watch a third of everything that was available. It was like meeting someone new every day; I was going to watch movies without knowing what their story was, who made them, who plays in them, which country they are from. I had to be completely without prejudice, simply welcoming every film, ready, with all my best intentions. Annette by Leos Carax, with Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver, opened the Festival this year. For the first time, I had the impression to witness the birth of a masterpiece. A true masterpiece: the best from a master’s career, a film that explores everything the 7th art has to give. I would never say it is my favourite film, but it is by far the best, most powerful movie I have ever seen. So peculiar, yet so beautiful. Literally everything that one can do in a movie, Leos Carax did. The story explores the themes of love, the modern days, abuse, and innocence, all through very specific lenses. The movie borrows from the structures of fairy tales and tragedy. Oh and also, it is a musical based on original music created by the Sparks. The character of Annette is literally a puppet for most of the movie. Adam Driver delivers an insane performance, and I truly believe he deserved the award for best actor at the closing ceremony. The aesthetics are truly ethereal, colour and light, magical. Images are superimposed, sets look realistic at once and look like these of a theatre scene at other times. Full of symbolism. Full of rhythm – I am thinking here of a particular scene with actor Simon Helberg as music conductor…

I’ve also seen Petrov’s flu by Kirill Serebrennikov; I remember my immediate impression was that it was horribly deconstructed. But looking back at it, it is strangely a pleasant memory. Ghahreman, by Ashgar Farhadi! So intense, full of emotions, full of sympathy. It gave an insight in the society that is Iran – and Farhadi seems to be quite critical. Specifically, the film revolves around one incident which reveals the flaws in public morals, the injustice of the public eye, the exploitative potential around morals. A father and his son…Women Do Cry by Vesela Kazakova and Mina Mileva celebrates a family mainly composed of women, more or less young, free, or tough. It climaxes for me at a scene where they all bathe in a river, having fun, laughing - before being out of the water, when they all open their hearts and cry individually, without looking at each other. Tout s’est bien passé by François Ozon was very blue, movingly funny, and as much as it was a simple plot, very tense. Most importantly, it tackled the issue of euthanasia around an eccentric, quite detestable (but also lovable) character surrounded by two loyal daughters. Dangsin-eolgul-apeseo by Sangsoo Hong was the most terrible experience of cinema of my entire life so far. Slow, so slow! There was absolutely no plot, not even a story, and the cinematography was this of a never-moving camera, stuck at a

side of the room, recording endless, pointless discussions from a very static point of view. At some point the grave secret of the main character is revealed: she is sick and is going to die soon – and I didn’t feel a thing! This is only my subjective view of course, and I still value this experience. I have a very strong principle of never leaving a theatre, even if I really do not like a movie. I was resisting the urge to get up and leave and gave the movie a chance until the end…Now I can state for sure that it is the worst movie I’ve ever seen! I still want people to go and watch it, I want to know how they liked it, I want to know if I missed something. Flag Day by Sean Penn was a story told a million times already, but I would pick this version over all the others! JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass by Oliver Stone was a documentary revealing the truth behind JFK’s death. It is very long, methodical, and thorough but so valuable. Intriguing and revolting, it definitely erases any other documentaries’ attempts to ‘solve’ JFK.

The French Dispatch by Wes Anderson and Titane by Juila Ducorneau were my personal favourites. Anderson’s movie was incredibly poetic – as always. It was a pure homage to two loves of the director: The New Yorker magazine and France. A golden cast (Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Benicio del Toro, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Timothée Chalamet) creates a very unique story: the redaction team of a magazine from the U.S.A settles a sort of branch in a small French village, writing articles inspired by the life in this village. The spectator follows, in turn, three of the journalists investigating three (very French) stories. A strike (referring quite directly to Mai 68), a mad artist and the power of cuisine. The images are impeccable, beautiful, and surprising! The actors are all at their best, and the humour is particularly close to this of The Grand Budapest Hotel – very swee. I simply loved it.

Titane…The most controversial movie I watched at the Festival. The crowd was absolutely divided about it. I mean, quite literally, the room was left by a good number of spectators who were too shocked. It is a very violently graphic movie, following a young woman in the madness of murders. This is the first reason why I really appreciated this movie: it is so rare to see depicted a female serial murderer. The thing is, this short description I just wrote is accurate but does not do the film justice. It is so much more than the story of a female murderer! The film does indeed take a sharp turn after the series of graphic murders and other acts of violence. (Not only is the violence graphic, but it is also absolutely perverted. Actions you could never have imagined on your own, not your typical, simple knife-in-the-back murders. And the sounds! The sounds of every single violent action were so in-your-face, that I genuinely had to cover my ears sometimes).

The sharp turn introduces a story of redemption, and both metaphorically and literally, of rebirth. In a way, another story of father and sons. This new chapter is activated by a transition with the story of violence which is based on the need for the main character to hide. Titane presents itself as a challenge to any potential spectator: who will be able to see past the graphic aspect of the movie? It is easy to categorise the film in a short reaction to shock and disgust, but there lies a real, beautiful, poetic gem. One aspect I particularly admired was the rhythm of the movie – it was as strict as a music sheet. Images are rather colourful, neonlike. And among the madness, a lot of shots are absolutely calm and metaphorical. Death allows rebirth, this is to me the core principle of Titane – but it should not be schematised as a circular cycle, it is more chaotic. Death allows rebirth in all directions, simultaneously, for everyone. Spike Lee, the president of the jury for the 2021 edition of the Cannes Film Festival, announced quite chaotically himself, that Juila Ducorneau’s Titane won the Palme d’Or (the most prestigious award of the ceremony). Titane will represent France at the Oscars in the Best foreign film category!

If you never intend to try and attend the Festival, or to follow it closely from afar, I hope that I at least made you realise its very existence. You probably heard about it before, but I mean that I hope I gave you a more intrinsic insight at what it exactly is about. It, alongside many other international festivals in the world, but perhaps it precisely, has to be preserved. The work done is so valuable and I want people to realise that very regularly, it is festivals like Cannes which enable hidden gems to be thrown at the public eye – like a springboard. Let’s not forget that without Cannes, you would never have had the chance to see Bong Joonho’s Parasite on your local screens. Before Parasite made it to the Oscars, (where journalists asked the director why he decided to make the movie in Korean and not in English…) it was in Cannes, with a ceremony all in French, without it being seen as an insult to the imperial U.S.A. Vive le Festival de Cannes!