Cannes Film Festival Trivia

The world's most glamorous film festival takes place in Cannes where it attracts top Hollywood stars, directors, producers, writers, agents, critics, paparazzi, press and ordinary movie-goers. It's not just a festival for judging and critiquing film (although that is its primary raison d'être), it's not all about celebrating a love of celluloid; fact is, cold hard business deals are done there too.

 

The Cannes Film Festival came about due to events leading up to World War II. At 1939's Venice Film Festival, two films glorifying Nazism and Fascism took top honours disgusting jury members from Great Britain, France and America. At this point, the idea of a new festival in France was muted but it didn't come to full fruition until after the war. The first Cannes Film Festival took place in 1946. Check out some fun trivia below...

 

Cannes Film Festival Format

There are two official juries at the Cannes Film Festival: the Feature Films Jury and the Short Films and Cinéfondation Jury. Voting is by secret ballot, and the decision of the majority rules. Members of the juries cannot have a film in competition. The honour of being invited onto a Jury is only exceeded by being Jury President. Past Jury members include: Martin Scorsese, Sharon Stone, Steven Soderbergh, Meg Ryan and David Lynch. Past jury presidents include Quentin Tarantino, directors Luc Besson and David Cronenberg and Britain's own Tim Roth.

Of the awards handed out at the Cannes Film Festival, the biggest is the Palme d'Or, given to the best feature film and the best short film in competition. One of the great things about Cannes is that the juries have the freedom to award prizes at their will. For example, a Best Supporting Actor award was specially created in order to honour Samuel L Jackson's explosive performance in Spike Lee's controversial drama Jungle Fever.

 

Cannes Film Festival Trivia

1. The United Kingdom has won the Palme d'Or nine times. The winning films are:

 

1946 - Brief Encounter directed by David Lean
1949 - The Third Man directed by Carol Reed
1965 - The Knack directed by Richard Lester
1969 - If.... directed by Lindsay Anderson
1971 - The Go-Between directed by Joseph Losey
1973 - The Hireling directed by Alan Bridges
1986 - The Mission directed by Roland Joffé

1996 - Secrets & Lies directed by Mike Leigh

2006 - The Wind That Shakes The Barley by Ken Loach

 

2. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith had its world premiere on May 15 at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005. Another film that had its debut at Cannes was E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial directed by Steven Spielberg. When it first played at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, it got a standing ovation and thunderous applause.

3. A 19-year-old French beauty took Cannes by storm in 1953. Parading and posing in a swimsuit, the young Brigitte Bardot became a huge international sensation.

 

4. In 1948, the Cannes Film Festival was not held due to lack of funding.

 

5. The first Cannes Film Festival was originally planned for 1939, but it had to be cancelled because Hitler invaded Poland.

 

6. A couple of instances where a winning actor or actress in Cannes has gone on to win an Oscar include: Sophia Loren, 1961's winner of the Prix D'Interpretation Feminine for La Ciociara (Two Women) at Cannes and the recipient of 1961's Best Actress Academy Award. Also Holly Hunter, 1993's winner of the Prix D'Interpretation Feminine for The Piano at Cannes and the recipient of 1993's Best Actress Academy Award.

 

7. The Cannes Film Festival was cancelled for eight days in 1968 due to riots that broke out in Paris and around the country.

 

8. In 2000, police were called after a fracas broke out during a screening of Lars von Trier's Dancer In The Dark. The film won the top acting prize for its star Icelandic singer Björk.

 

9. While accepting the Palmes d'Or for Pulp Fiction in 1994, Quentin Tarantino was heckled by a slightly inebriated French woman.

 

10. In 1955, the late director Elia Kazan was booed by a section of the Cannes audience. He'd testified before the House of Un-American Activities Committee, giving the names of supposed communists in the film industry. The named were subsequently blacklisted from Hollywood. At the time, Kazan's classic, East of Eden, starring teen idol James Dean, was being shown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gallery: 60 years of the Cannes Film Festival, including The Spice Girls and Borat 

 

 

 

By Lorna Cooper, Entertainment Editor - Feedback  - Discuss - Blog