It’s France’s most glamorous event of the year !

From 17 to 28 May, international stars will flock to the French Riviera for the 59th Cannes Film Festival. While some will be on hand to champion films competing for the very prestigious Golden Palm, others will serve as ambassadors for their country’s movie industry. And many will be on the lookout for a producer to turn their screenplays into feature films...

As the event’s master of ceremonies, French actor Vincent Cassel, seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean 12, will host the opening and closing ceremonies, officially kicking off the 59th Cannes Film Festival on 17 May. This year, 20 films will be competing in the official lineup. Chinese film director Wong Kar-Wai will head up this year’s jury, comprised of eight members including Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, American actor Samuel L. Jackson, Palestinian film director Elia Suleiman and Argentinean director Lucrecia Martel. They will be in charge of awarding the “prize of prizes” : the Festival’s prestigious Palme d’Or (Golden Palm). Thierry Frémaux, the Festival’s artistic director, who is also in charge of selecting the films along with Festival president Gilles Jacob, explains how the films are chosen, underscoring the importance of “showcasing independent filmmakers, seeking out distinctive voices from different cultures, high-quality directing and filmmaking as an art.”

For the first time ever, a South African film has been selected in the short film category, competing for the Palme d’Or Court Métrage :
Ongeriewe, by the Robin Kleinsmidt, Afda student in Cape Town.
Robin is invited to attend by the festival and the Embassy of France in South Africa provide the air-ticket to his cinematographer, also an Afda Student, Christopher Wessels.

The 2006 official Festival will present 55 films from 30 different countries. In addition to the feature films competing for a prize, various out-of-competition films and movies from the Un Certain Regard category, established in 1978, will also be screened. This year’s Un Certain Regard selection includes twenty films from very different backgrounds, produced by new directors and confirmed independent filmmakers. While cinematographers from Western Europe and Asia have been part of this selection for many years, directors from Central Europe are now coming to the forefront. In addition to Romanian director Cristi Puiu - in Cannes for the second time - films by Lithuanian, Hungarian and Polish filmmakers will also be screened.

Four feature films received support from the Fonds Sud Cinéma Commission. This financial assistance, provided by France’s National Cinematography Centre (CNC) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims to promote film production in developing countries. The Fund’s subsidies enabled Malian director Abderrahmane Sissako to present Bamako, an out-of-competition film, and helped Paraguayan director Paz Encina enter her film Hamaca Paraguaya in the Un Certain Regard category. Various other financing systems have also been set up by the official Festival to help countries in which film production is difficult. For example, L’Atelier, founded by Cinéfondation, selects screenplays written by film directors hailing from different countries. The purpose of this organisation is to facilitate the financing of these projects at the Cannes Festival. This year, 18 films are in the making. Among them, Scar, by Teboho Mahlatsi (South Africa). The film maker is flying to Cannes courtesy of the Embassy of France. Last but not least, the International Village is a centre for the promotion of the world’s film industries. Located near the Palais des Festivals, where most of the events are held, the International Village hosts countries presenting their national cinematography. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be there as a part of their efforts to provide constant support to cinematography in countries of the South. It will run the Cinémas du Sud Pavilion on the Croisette with the International Organisation of the Francophonie, the European Union/ACP Group of States, and Radio France Internationale (RFI). Companies from the private sector are also involved, including Titra Films, Télétota/Jackson, Filminger, Cafés Malongo, Max Havelaar and the SNCF. The Pavilion’s main thrust is to promote 19 films recently produced in the South among stakeholders in the international market. The films will be screened in the Film Market theatres and the Pavilion’s partners have invited their directors and producers to attend. Among them, Jahmil Qubeka (South Africa), from DC Studios in Johannesburg, with Shogun Khumalo, invited by the Embassy of France in South Africa.

In parallel to the red-carpet Festival, other international events will also be presenting their own film selections. The leading of these “sidebar” events are the Critics’ Week and the Directors’ Fortnight. The former highlights first and second features (debut films), while the latter was founded in 1968 as a reaction against the official Festival. It is a non-competitive event that shines the spotlight on film directors and voluntary distances itself from the glitter and glam of the official competition. Behind the scenes at these various events, motion picture industry professionals also meet during the Cannes Festival to buy and sell films at the Film Market, the world’s largest film trade venue. Michael Auret, Director of the Cape Town World Cinema Festival, is flying to Cannes courtesy of the Embassy of France in South Africa.
Over 10,000 participants are expected to attend the official event this year. With the more than 4,000 journalists milling around the legendary Croisette, the some 20,000 people representing other films festivals and affiliated organisations, as well as the technicians, directors, actors and so forth, it’s no surprise that the population of this quiet Riviera town more than triples during the Cannes Film Festival ! Paradoxically, the beaches remain empty until nightfall during the event. After spending the entire day huddled in dark screening rooms, movie fans, cut off from the rest of the world, can recover from their viewing experiences at wild parties !

 Contact : Vincent Garrigues, Film&Tv Adviser, Embassy of France in South Africa.
Cell 072 347 1290 / Cell in Cannes +336 8393 5038
Email : vincent.garrigues@diplomatie.gouv.fr

 Cannes festival official website : http://www.festival-cannes.org

On Wes 17 May, The Alliance Française du Cap presents "HEART OF THE FESTIVAL" an anthology of the greatest moments of the Cannes Film Festival, by its president, Gilles Jacob
17 May 19h00
155 Loop street, Cape Town - 021 423 56 99 Free Entrance, French with english subtitles.