Cannes Film Festival 2010: An Overview and French Pronunciation

“So, where’s the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?”

-Christina Aguilera
(She’ll never live that one down.)

Le Festival de Cannes

As most of us are well aware, the Festival de Cannes is an annual film festival held in the town of (you guessed it!) Cannes, France. The event takes place each year (usually in May) at the Palais des Festivals et de Congrès, recognizable during the festival by its red carpet/steps, hoards of badge-wearing media, and an influx of celebrities and film moguls.

Palasi des Festivals et de Congrès

Public Access • Admission to Venues • In Order of Appearance

When and Where

This year (2010), the festival will take place May 12-23 with private (read: celebrity/film industry/media types) events throughout each day, and public events in the evenings.

As mentioned in an earlier post, Tim Burton will be heading up this year’s Feature Film Jury as President. He will lead the committee in judging the 20 films that have been selected for La Compétition, each hoping to win the prestigious Palme d’Or. Films in the running will be screened at the Grand Théâtre Lumière, which is inside the Palais and not accessible to the general public.

***WARNING*** to celeb-seekers/paparazzi: The steps of the Palais will see a lot of star action, but heed this information from the official Festival de Cannes website:

Important: Admission to the Steps, Palais, Festival and Marché du Film theatres is strictly forbidden to anyone with camcorders, cameras, Webcams or any other audiovisual recording device. Mobiles must be switched off. It is completely forbidden to photograph, film, record or retransmit the screenings by any means. Any violation is subject to possible prosecution.

Of course, in order to violate this rule, you’d first have to be admitted into any of these spaces, which (as you’ll see below) is pretty unlikely.

Although public events are few and far between, plenty of the festival takes place outside the Palais.

Un Certain Regard, a smaller and separate competition, originated as a way for unusual films from all over the world to be screened (out of competition) during the famous festival. In 1998, the Prix Un Certain Regard was created, a prize awarded by a one-person jury to the winner of this competition.

All films in this category are screened la salle Debussy (no public access) and at day-after screenings at la salle Bazin.

Other events include les courts métrages en Compétition (short films in competition), which are also screened at la salle Debussy and compete for the Palme d’Or du court métrage. La séléction Cinéfondation is a competition with submissions of short- and medium-length films from film schools the world over; these films are screened at la salle Buñuel. Les films Hors Compétion (Out of Competition) screen at various theaters, none of them open to the general public.

Public Access

Le Cinéma de la Plage (The Cinema on the Beach) is the ultimate (and pretty much only) public event at Cannes. It is free and runs on a first-come, first-served basis. There are as many tickets available as there are seats, so get there early to secure yourself a spot.

Beach screening of The Piano at the 2008 festival.

Audience members watch a screening of The Piano on the beach at the 2008 festival.

During the festival, le Cinéma de la Plage kicks off at 8:30pm with a live musical act. The films usually begin around 9:15pm, and did I mention it’s free?

The beach in questions is along the Promenade de la Croisette, just down the road from the Palais.

An official schedule of Cinéma de la Plage events and films will be released a week before the festival.

Admission to Venues

So, let’s face it, you are so not getting into most of these events; I mean, unless you’re famous, or a much more convincing liar than I am. You’ve got the Cinéma de la Plage to console you, but just for fun, here are the requirements for entering the following venues:

Le Grand Théatre Lumière

Screening: la Compétition, les films Hors Compétition
Entry requirements: official Badge or Invitation

La salle Debussy

Screening: Un Certain Regard, les courts métrages en Compétition
Entry requirements: official Badge

La salle Buñuel

Screening: la séléction Cinéfondation, Cannes Classics
Entry requirements: official Badge

La salle du Soixantième

Screening: les Séances spéciales, les séances du lendemain (La Compétition and les films Hors Compétition)
Entry requirements: official Badge

La salle Bazin

Screening: les séances du lendemain (Un Certain Regard), Press screenings
Entry requirements: press or day-after screening Badge