The world's biggest film festivals

The world's biggest film festivals

The film festival is a film event of exceptional nature or organized according to an annual rhythm, during which many films are presented to the public, often to the press and sometimes to a jury.

There are two distinct types of festivals: the festival organized by the management of a cinema, which is rather a retrospective and which consists in programming several films of the same director, of the same actor, of the same country or related to the same theme. This practice is common, and many rooms specialize in this type of event. More prestigious are the national or international festivals of short or feature films, which take place annually in the same city. These events can be competitive. In this case, a jury made up of several members (cinema professionals, various celebrities) and gathered around a president awards prizes: Best Film Award, Staging Award or Interpretation Award, etc. Festival organizers sometimes involve viewers in the vote and also award a public prize.

2- THE GREAT FESTIVALS

2.1- The Venice Festival

On the personal initiative of Benito Mussolini, the first film festival of history was born in Venice in 1932. It became competitive in 1934 and awarded each year two Mussolini cups, intended to reward respectively an Italian film and a foreign film. The Venice festival also awards a prize for female interpretation and a prize for male interpretation.

The film festival unfolds until 1942, without interruption. However, as early as 1938, the foreign film cup was systematically attributed to German films and that of the Italian film to fascist propaganda films.

Taken again in 1947, the festival remained competitive until 1968, year in which festival organizers put an end to the distribution of lions, rewards that followed the cuts in 1949 and which great filmmakers have benefited, such as Akira Kurosawa, Carl Dreyer, Satyajit Ray, Roberto Rossellini, Alain Resnais, Andrei Tarkovsky, Michelangelo Antonioni, Luchino Visconti, and Luis Buñuel. In 1980, however, prices are restored. Among the most prestigious gold lions awarded since 1980 are John Cassavetes 'Gloria (1980), Wim Wenders' The State of Things (Der Stand der Dinge) (1982), Jean-Luc Godard's First Name Carmen (1983). ) and Eric Rohmer's Green Ray (1986).

2.2- The Cannes Film Festival

A film festival is organized in Cannes in 1939, but it must be interrupted after a few days, because of the declaration of war. In 1946, however, it resumed and, over the years, became the most prestigious film festival in the world. However, its beginnings are difficult, the event to be canceled in 1948 and 1950 for financial reasons. In 1955, the organizers replace the prizes with gold palms, which benefit Luis Buñuel for Viridiana (1961) and Luchino Visconti for the Cheetah (Il Gattopardo, 1963). The palms were in turn replaced in 1964 by grand prizes, which notably reward Jacques Demy for the Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) and Michelangelo Antonioni for Blow up (1967).

Interrupted in 1968 by the events of May, the festival is reorganized the following year and is enriched by a parallel event: the Directors' Fortnight. This one, oriented towards the search of new talents, has helped to reveal to the public and the criticism most of the great film-makers of our time. In 1975, the Golden Palm made its return as the supreme reward of the Cannes Film Festival.

For twenty years, the Cannes Film Festival has remained a festival, a huge film market, the rendezvous of thousands of moviegoers and the privileged meeting place for film professionals and specialized journalists. Memorable scandals have occurred, often linked to the audacity of the films presented. In 1972, the jury was conspired to have given Jean Yanne the prize of male interpretation for his role in Maurice Pialat's "We will not grow old together". In 1973, the official selection of Marco Ferreri's Grande Bouffe sparked fights in the hall, and the awarding of the special grand jury prize to Maman and Jean Eustache's Whore was greeted with whistles. In 1987, under the sun of Satan Maurice Pialat receives the gold medal under the insults.

The Cannes Film Festival is now a major media event, mobilizing television channels around the world. Thousands of films are shown in the space of a fortnight. The new events are multiplying: Critics' Week, Cinema in France, A certain look, Cinema of always, films out of competition, etc.

2.3- The BerlinBerlin

festival The festival was born in 1951, with the bears as rewards. These are also generously distributed the first year, with four gold, three silver, and two bronze bears. But the jury soon became more selective and distinguished from 1958 by attributing the golden bear Wild strawberries (Smultronstället) of Ingmar Bergman, then in 1959 to Claude Chabrol for the Cousins.

Irregular in his selection as in his charts, the Berlin festival has nonetheless often defended independent writers, with a prize of staging awarded to Jean-Luc Godard in 1960, and gold bears to Michelangelo Antonioni for the Night (The Notte, 1961), Roman Polanski for Cul-de-sac (1966), Pier Paolo Pasolini for Canterbury Tales (The Canterbury Tales, 1972), Robert Altman for Buffalo Bill and the Indians (Buffalo Bill And The Indians, 1976), Werner Schroeter for Palermo (1980), Rainer Werner Fassbinder for Veronika Voss's Secret (Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss, 1982), John Cassavetes for Love Streams, 1984, Zhang Yimou for Sorghum red (Hong gaoliang, 1988), Marco Ferreri for House of Smiles (Casa del soriso, 1991) and Bertrand Tavernier for Appait (1995).

Accompanied by retrospectives and a side event, the International Forum for Young Cinema, the Berlin Festival is one of the most important festivals focusing on European cultural identity. It is a very complete and often exciting event.

3- THE OTHER RENOWN FESTIVALS

Both inaugurated in 1946, the Locarno and Karlovy Vary festivals resist time, cultivate their own identity and manage to establish programs likely to attract the international press. More experimental and intimate, less related to the movie business, they allow discovering films that escape the breeders of the three major festivals. The festival of San Sebastián, born under the Franco regime in 1953, remains, meanwhile, somehow, but has a place and a beautiful site that continue to ensure a certain prestige.

Established in 1959 under the Khrushchev government, the Moscow festival does not shine by the relevance of its selection. On the other hand, that of Pesaro, Italy, gives a large place to the experimental cinema and is often distinguished by the originality of its retrospectives. Similarly, the Valladolid Festival in Spain often makes remarkable selections.

In addition to these general events, there are specialized festivals, such as the Trieste festival for science fiction and Avoriaz for fantasy cinema. The festivals of Annecy, Ottawa, Varna, and Zagreb are specialized in the animated film, and those of Leipzig, Lussas, Nyon, Paris, and Marseille devote themselves to documentary cinema. Finally, the main world short film festival takes place in Clermont-Ferrand and Châteauroux, Krakow, Grenoble, Lille, and Oberhausen also host events dedicated to short films.