What is the Cannes Film Festival?
The Cannes Film Festival is the most well-known film festival in the world. It happens every year, usually in May, in Cannes, a small town by the Mediterranean sea in France.
Actors, filmmakers, writers, models, and other people from around the world come to Cannes to attend the festival.
What are the awards given at the Cannes Film Festival?
Several awards are given out at the Cannes Film Festival for the best new movies and documentaries. The highest film award given out by Cannes is known as the Palme d’Or (English meaning Golden Palm).
A jury made up of some of the most well-known people from the film industry around the world selects the films that will win the Palme d’Or and the other awards.
What was special about India at the Cannes Film Festival this year?
From this year onwards, Cannes decided to honour one special country at the festival. The very first country chosen for this honour - India!
This means we get to show off our beautiful film culture on a global stage. We also get to pick six Indian films that will be shown at the festival. Usually, only festival judges and juries get to pick which movies will be shown at Cannes.
What’s India’s history at the Cannes Film Festival?
India’s connection to Cannes goes all the way back to 1946, the year the festival first began. That year an Indian movie called ‘Neecha Nagar’ won the festival’s highest award, the Grand Prix (the old name of the Palme d’Or).
Since then, quite a few Indian movies have won awards at Cannes. Indian actors, filmmakers and writers have served on the Cannes jury over the years.
How did India do at the Cannes Film Festival?
In 2022, a new Indian documentary called ‘All That Breathes’ was showcased at Cannes. The best part - Deepika Padukone is a member of the jury that will select the winner of the Palme d’Or.
