May is the sweet month that pays homage to nature and man alike. Trees, fields, gardens, and floral petals capture the beauty of May with its endless possibilities. Mankind joins the festivities by observing special days in May, like May Day, People’s Day, Worker’s Day, Labour Day, Mother’s Day, as well as an extra bonus this May, celebrating Pope’s Day with the selection of Pope Leo XIV, the first US pope in history.
May day is just beginning. Time to make merry for our annual rendez-vous at the glamorous Azure Coast of France. That sleepy village by the deep blue sea, wakes up to embrace 10 glorious days in May and beneath clear crisp skies, Cannes becomes the capital of Filmdom.
The Festival de Cannes is the most publicised event in the world after the Olympics. Over 350,000 people descend on the tiny town to partake of its unequalled beauty, not to mention its glitzy days and ritzy nights.
The Cannes International Film Festival (13-24 May) is ready to display the best in film, fashion, and food. While the beach may be the place to gaze at unclad starlets, the Palais de Festival is where the serious business of film takes place.
In the world of cinema, this festival has no equal. At least 35,000 professionals and 5,000 journalists come to discover the charms of the French Riviera and the best film has to offer. It may be in its 78th year, but remains young, fresh, appealing, and dazzling as ever, despite wars, epidemics, bubble, and trouble. Cannes survives and remains always ultra-fashionable, provocative, and intoxicating.
There are 12,000 festivals around the world, but only 44 international festivals belong to the Federation Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films (FIAPF), accredited by the International Association of Film Producers. While the leading international festivals are Venice, Berlin, San Sebastian and Toronto, Cannes is king, without exception.
How did this tiny sea-side resort become the premier international film festival? France was not the first country to hold a film festival. The honour goes to Venice, pearl of the Adriatic, launched in 1932. It rapidly assumed a political flavour, favouring the Fascist countries like Italy and Germany and overlooking the master work of Jean Renoir’s film La Grande Illusion, the French withdrew in protest, followed by Britain and the US.
A strong lobby of critics and filmmakers persuaded the French government to underwrite a French film festival, choosing the enchanting spot by the shores of the Mediterranean.
It took several years before France re-emerged as the Cannes Film Festival in 1946.
A world weary of the havoc of war turned its attention to the world of escapism. It was in film that they could find, glamour, excitement, life, and love among the beautiful people. Cannes’ idyllic site drew them all. Royals, billionaires, and celebrities flocked to the seaside to toast life once again, as they still do. After years of sex and sensationalism on the Croisette, Cannes was able to shed its frivolous image and become the leading world in filmmaking superiority. Now it is the crème de la crème in the world of film, a unique blend of work and play during those blissful days in May.
A line of 23 films rocks the festival competition, including several female directors like the famous Lynne Ramsey of Scotland, who offers Die, My Love, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattison. French director Julia Ducournau, winner of the first female Palme d’Or for Titane in 2021, returns with Alpha. Good to see Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi back to Cannes with It was Just an Accident.
Surely the press will review the most anticipated films at Cannes daily. Suffice it to know that the remarkable Juliette Binoche sits head of the main jury. A must to overlook is Once Upon a Time in Gaza by the much celebrated twin brother directors from Gaza, Arab and Tarzan Nasser, who return to Cannes with their powerful new film. Cannes is still reeling from their last entry, Gaza Mon Amour in 2020.
Stars galore will ooh and aah at the likes of Denzel Washington, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and Tom Cruise presenting, hopefully, his last Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. Crowds will also look out for the stunning Aichwarya Rai, a regular at Cannes accompanied by superstar Alia Bhatt attending for the first time in Cannes.
All will be waiting to walk on the legendary red carpet, an integral part of the history and identity of Cannes. Without it, the red carpet on the Croisette would surely lose its symbolism and splendour.
The tradition of the red carpet was born during antiquity. It dates back to the fifth century BC when Greek playwright Aeschylus created the tragic genre.
Although the red carpet is used regularly at many prestigious ceremonies, nothing compares to the 24 steps of glory at Cannes, now almost sacred. Even the red colour of Cannes is uniquely coded 0144 and on the side part is Teatro Red.
An unknown fact is that the walk on the red carpet can be bought. The cost is $15,000 just to walk — if you can find a ticket.
Since France is the original home of film, born at the hands of the Lumiere brothers, it is only befitting that France, once every year in May, can claim it as the dazzling Capital of the Cinema World.
“No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.”
Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007)
* A version of this article appears in print in the 15 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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