Cannes Film Festival

The biggest film festival in the world

The Cannes International Film Festival was created in 1946, after a first attempt in 1939 was interrupted by World War II. For nearly eight decades, it has established itself as the most prestigious cinematic event on the planet. Every year in May, the city of Cannes and its famous Croisette transform into the world capital of cinema, attracting thousands of professionals, journalists, stars, and film lovers from all over the world.

The Palme d'Or, the supreme award

The Palme d'Or, awarded since 1955, is the festival's supreme award. It crowns the best film in the Official Competition, selected from about twenty feature films by an international jury presided over each year by a cinema personality. The greatest filmmakers have received this mythical distinction: Federico Fellini, Francis Ford Coppola, Wim Wenders, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Haneke, Ken Loach, and more recently Justine Triet in 2023 with *Anatomy of a Fall*.

An official selection of excellence

The Official Selection includes the Competition, the Un Certain Regard section dedicated to original and bold works, Special Screenings, and Midnight Screenings. In parallel, the Directors' Fortnight (formerly Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) and the Critics' Week offer independent selections highlighting first and second films. Together, they constitute an incomparable panorama of global cinematic creation.

The Film Market

The festival also hosts the Film Market, the largest professional market in the global film industry. Throughout the festival, producers, distributors, international sellers, and buyers negotiate rights for thousands of films, making Cannes a strategic hub for the seventh art's economy. The World Cinema Pavilion and numerous co-production initiatives reinforce the festival's role as an industry crossroads.

The red carpet steps and the Croisette

The walk up the steps of the Palais des Festivals has become one of the most iconic moments in the entertainment world. Every evening, cinema stars ascend the famous 24 steps covered by a red carpet, under the flashes of photographers and the gaze of millions of viewers. The Croisette, the boulevard along the Mediterranean, lives to the rhythm of the festival with its open-air screenings, parties, and encounters.