The Cannes film festival 2011
The festival was born as a result of circumstances of that era. The decision to host a new ‘international cinematographic festival in France’ by French minister of national education, Jean Zay, was in response to the interference of the fascist governments of Italy and Germany in the selection of films for the Mostra del cinema di Venezia – the most important international film festival of that time. Several towns were considered when deciding where the festival should be held, including Vichy, Biarritz and Algiers, although obviously the honour was finally bestowed upon the upmarket coastal resort of Cannes.
The private festival takes place annually (usually during the month of May) at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, and attracts huge media attention. It is an opportunity for the filmmakers of all nationalities and generations to showcase their work, and of course, a chance for the rich and famous to be ‘seen’!
The 64th festival will take place from 11—22 May 2011, and will see acclaimed American Actor/Director/Producer Robert de Niro take the helm as President of the Jury.
Although there are many components to the festival, the highlight of the festival each year is the announcement of which picture has won the coveted ‘Palme d’Or’, the highest prize awarded to competing films at the festival. Previous winners have included such well-known and universally acclaimed films as The Piano (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), The Pianist (2002) and Farenheit 9/11 (2004). Unlike the Oscars, it is very common for foreign language films to win the award – counted amongst the winners over the last decade are: Rosetta (1999), Dancer in the Dark (2000), La Stanza del Figlio (2001), L’Enfant (2005), 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (2007) , Entre les Murs(2008) and Das weiße Band (2009).
Visit Cannes this year and learn to speak French! French language courses are available in nearby Nice and Antibes. Or learn to speak French at home with one of Cactus’ many French classes in the UK or French classes in the US & Canada.
Definitely check out our French Phrases – 20 holiday essentials or if you are already quite confident, test your French with our French language test or try to read our French articles:
La Ville Rose de France – ce qui fait de Toulouse une formidable destination d’études
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