In a few hours, the activities of the 76th Cannes International Film Festival will begin in the coastal city of Cannes . (16 - 27 May). The date, which has been renewed annually for decades, in the month of May in particular, is awaited by the vast majority of those interested in cinematic, artistic and cultural affairs around the world. Because of him, the small city of Cannes, in terms of area and population, is crowded with twice the size of its population. This is something that the tourist city does not witness very often, despite the many events, demonstrations, and conferences that take place there throughout the year.
Some people think that all the festival’s activities are held in the huge “Palace of Festivals”, located on “La Croisette”. This is not true. In fact, the palace hosts the most important events, the opening and closing ceremonies, the “main competition,” and the “Un Certain Regard” competition, which is next in importance to the “main competition,” and is concerned with the first or second experiences of male and female directors, and other sub-programmes. In the lower floors of the palace, most of the “Film Market” events are held, which is the largest of its kind in the world.
In its 55th edition this year, the event will screen 10 short films and 20 feature films over 10 days, from May 17 to May 26. It opens with the French film “The Goldman Affair” by Cédric Kahn. It concludes with the Korean film “In Our Day” by Hong Sang-soo. As part of the celebration of the late Spanish director Manuel de Oliveira, and the thirty years since his film “Abraham Valley” (1993) was shown at the demonstration for the first time, the film will be re-screened. On this occasion, the image of the Spanish film heroine, Leonor Silveira, topped the official poster of the demonstration.
As for the oldest subsidiary event, it is “Critics Week . ” It is entirely subject to the supervision and organization of the French Film Critics Syndicate, and was founded in 1962. Its activities are held in the hall of the “Miramar Palace” hotel, a few meters away from the venue of the “ Directors’ Weeks” demonstration . In its 62nd session (May 17-25), the organizers of the demonstration announced 7 films competing for the “Critics Award,” by directors from France, South Korea, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Malaysia, and Jordan. In addition to short and long French films, outside the competition, as “special screenings”, to highlight new talents in French cinema.
The two demonstrations are about a kilometer away from the “Festival Palace.” The two events have two different financial and administrative systems, and completely independent selection, management and arbitration committees, schedules of presentations, posters and publications. In effect, they are two separate festivals from Cannes. Unfortunately, most of the time, their performances overlap with festival performances. This causes a lot of bewilderment, confusion and distress, making it impossible to pursue or follow up. Especially since they usually show a lot of great films, and are always keen to introduce new, eye-catching faces. Sometimes, their selections outperform the films screened in the festival's “main competition.”
In 1979, due to the increase in activities in the city and the number of festival-goers and others, construction work began on what is known as the “Palais des Festivals and Congress Hall of Cannes”. The new palace was designed by François Drouet. Construction work on it was completed, and it was opened in 1982. The area of the palace is approximately 30 thousand square meters, and it is divided into 6 floors. It includes 5 halls of varying sizes, from approximately 150 to 2,300 seats. There is a vast area on the ground floor, around the palace, where the “Film Market” events and screenings are held. The building was inaugurated the following year, with the showing of the film “The King of Comedy” (1983) by Martin Scorsese, in the first “Canadian” session held in the new palace. Since then, all the main official events of the festival are held there.
Despite the expansion that was made to the palace in 1999, adding 10,000 square meters to its previous area, in 2010 it underwent massive maintenance, development, and expansion work. This took place over a period of 3 years, from 2013 to 2015. The largest portion of it was for its largest hall, the “Lumiere Grand Theater” hall. Which increased its capacity to 2,309 seats. It is the largest among the palace halls. Its screen is among the largest in the world. The hall attracts the attention and attention of the media because it is the main venue for the opening and closing performances and award distribution. The most important and famous directors and stars ascend its 24 steps, and the most important souvenir photos are taken on its stage.
The “Grand Theater Lumière” hall is followed in importance and area by the “Claude Debussy Theater” hall - 1068 seats, the “Louis Buñuel” hall - 452 seats, and the “André Bazin” hall - 280 seats. In one side of the palace, the “60th Hall” tent has been erected since 2007. The huge tent, which is being installed before the festival and is equipped with the latest equipment, can accommodate approximately 500 seats. Its name was recently changed to bear the name of the late French director Agnès Varda, and it hosts reruns of most of the festival’s films.
Recently, due to the intense crowding and the queues that extended for long hours before movie screenings, and sometimes the inability to enter at all, or to enter and sit on the stairs due to excessive crowding, the city of Cannes established the huge cinema complex “Cineum”, which opened 3 years ago. It has 12 halls equipped with the latest equipment and can accommodate more than 2,450 seats. To complement the complex and the group of cinemas located in the city center, with a capacity of approximately 2,133 seats. The building features a unique modern architecture, with an area of 9,400 square metres. It is covered with white concrete with gridded triangular shapes, very similar to Kaaba models. The building was designed by architect Rudy Yeccoti, known for his unique cultural designs, such as the Jean Cocteau Museum, in the city of Montone. Also, “Chanel Fashion Factory”, in Paris.
With such cinematic infrastructure, whether screening or viewing places, press services, etc., the festival can serve more than 4,500 journalists and critics during its period. It is the largest media coverage of an event in the world, after the Olympics, according to statistics. This structure accommodates tens of thousands of stars, filmmakers, film market leaders, and other audiences and amateurs. Despite the small number of Cannes audiences, compared to other festivals, such as Berlin, for example. The “Cannes” Festival is primarily concerned with industry people, and is not considered a festival open to the public and public performances. It does not aim to buy and sell tickets, achieve profits or record viewing numbers...etc.
Hence, the city of Cannes, and its surrounding suburbs and outskirts, is ranked second among French cities, after Paris, in attracting huge numbers of conference attendees, and owners of cultural, touristic or commercial events and activities. Most of them are held inside the corridors of the Palace of Festivals, not outside. Anyone who reads the palace’s agenda on the website is amazed at the amount of activities that do not stop throughout the year. Starting with musical or theatrical performances over a day or two. And through conferences, workshops, and art exhibitions extending for longer periods. For example, unlike the Cannes Film Festival, the palace hosts the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The most important real estate, tourism, yachting, food, and hotel marketing exhibitions. Recently, the Cannes Series Festival, whose first session was held in 2018, joined the list.
About Palme d'Or
Historically, the Palme d'Or, the most prestigious award bestowed by the festival, was not as we know it now. The award has undergone many developments, designs and shapes, germinating a connection with the current design. Even if the palm leaf, as a logo or symbol, has not changed. Only in 1975 was the “Palme d’Or” redesigned and became the permanent symbol of the festival and its official logo. It is presented in a box of pure red Moroccan leather, lined with white suede. In the 1980s, the circular, then pyramidal shape of the palm leaf was redesigned, made precious, heavier and lustrous. The edges of its stem and needle leaves are strengthened, and shaped into a heart shape. As well as the design of its base, which is made of hand-polished crystal. It was made of golden copper, then red copper, then gold-plated silver.
In 1998, the Greek Theo Angelopoulos was the first director to win the “Palme d’Or” in its now known form. The stem of the frond is 18 cm long, and bears 19 needle leaves on its sides. It is manufactured by the Swiss watch and jewelry company Chopard, which donates it every year. The Palm leaves the workshop in Geneva to the Croisette before the festival, where it is kept in a secret place before being awarded.
Previously, the sukkah was made of 18-karat gold. It consists of 75% pure gold and 2% silver. Now, it's made of 24-karat gold, mined by Colombian gold miners, 300 meters deep in La Llanada, a small town north of the Andes, in Colombia. After that, it is placed on top of a piece of clear, polished rock crystal extracted from the mountains of Switzerland and Germany, making it look like an emerald diamond. It is then placed in a luxurious royal blue Moroccan leather case.
In 2011, after Danish director Lars von Trier dropped the palm leaf while waving it too excitedly, a safety mechanism was added to the box to secure and hold the palm leaf in place. In 2013, for the first time in history, the Palme d'Or was awarded to three people, director Abdellatif Kechiche, and actresses Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos, for “Blue is the Warmest Color.” Usually, a second spare Sa'fa is always kept in case of any physical or other damage, or in the event that the prize is divided or awarded equally. That year, a third palm tree had to be made. It was made in haste and delivered at the last minute to the festival administration, hours before the closing ceremony. In 2017, in the 70th edition, I made some improvements and additions to the frond, its crystal, and covered it with small diamonds on its leaves and stem. Since then, its design has remained unchanged.
Secure and decorate the city
In contrast to all these announced security precautions, which did not mention the presence of army personnel as before when the terrorist attacks occurred, the city is stable and calm, as usual, despite the crowds, activity and liveliness in the streets. As usual, from year to year, restoration and renewal works are observed in the city, in a pleasant manner. Also, developing, beautifying and decorating various places, with wonderful, eye-catching cinematic touches. This is in addition to the usual banners, most of which are movie clips or photographs of male and female stars, male and female directors. Or those hand-painted on many walls and buildings in different parts of the city.
Opening film
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