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India at the Festival de Cannes: a timeline/ early May 2019
1946
Neecha Nagar (La Ville Basse) | Chetan Anand |It was India's first official entry atwhat happened to be the first Cannes Film Festival. (de Cannes) The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category, in which there were 44 films in 1946. (The number of films making it to this elite group was only 21 in 2018.)
Neecha Nagarwon the festival’s highest honour, the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film (the Best Film award) (de Cannes), which has since been renamed the Palme d’Or. Neecha Nagar was loosely based on Maxim Gorky’s Lower Depths and a Hindi story written by Hayatullah Ansari. It had to compete with Roberto Rossellini’s Rome, Open City (Italy), David Lean’s Brief Encounter (UK), and Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (USA).
1951
This was the fourth edition of the festival at Cannes. (There was no festival in 1948 or1950 )
The official website of the (de Cannes) does NOT list Awara either under Selection or under Awards, though several Indian writers do.Below, we will see why.
1952
Amar Bhoopali | Rajaram Vankudre Shantaram (A biopic of Marathi poet Honaji Bala) (de Cannes) (No poster of the film is available on the Cannes website.) The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
In India it is believed that the film was nominated for the Grand Prize(well, it was among the top 35 films at Cannes that year) and won the award for Best Sound Recording, for music composed by Vasant Desai and sung by the Mangeshkar sisters. However, (de Cannes) does not mention any of this under Awards. Instead, it tells us that the ‘Prix De La Meilleure Partition Musicale’ was won by Arne Mattsson for Hon Dansade En Sommar (Elle N'a Dansé Qu'un Seul Été). There is no mention of a Best Sound Recording award for Amar Bhoopali or any other film.
To be doubly sure, the film was ‘Searched’ on the de Cannes website, which does not mention a Sound Recordist even in the film’s ‘credits.’
1953
Awara | Raj Kapoor (de Cannes)The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
(Sonakshi Kurbah) and (Lagachu) wrote: This venture was shortlisted for the much coveted honour of Palme d’Or.
In the sense that it was among the top 35 films in the Selection category that year, indeed, it was.
1954
Do Bigha Zamin | Bimal Roy. (de Cannes) The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
It was awarded the International Prize / Prix International (Award.Ex Aequo )at Cannes. (de Cannes)
1955
There were two Indian films that competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
Biraj Bahu | Bimal Roy (de Cannes)
Boot Polish (Le Petit Cireur) |Prakash Arora (de Cannes)
(Sonakshi Kurbah) writes: Child actress Naaz won a special mention for Raj Kapoor’s Boot Polish. Actually, it was bigger than that: ‘Distinction To [for?] Two Chi[l]dren’ (Award.Ex Aequo).’(de Cannes). If you see the film’s poster, above, you will notice two children. It would seem that both—and not Naaz alone—were awarded. (however, that year an identical prize, ‘Distinction To Two Chi[l]dren’ (Award.Ex Aequo) had been awarded to Laszlo Vajda’s Marcelino Pan Y Vino (Marcellin, Pain Et Vin), the poster of which shows only one boy.
In the case of both films the name of the child actor being awarded has not been mentioned. It is more likely that one of the ‘two’ children to be conferred with that distinction was Naaz and the other was Vajda’s little star.
1956
Pather Panchali (La Complainte Du Sentier) | Satyajit Ray (de Cannes)The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
The film won the Prix Du Document Humain/ Best Human Document Award at the festival.(de Cannes)
See Pather Panchali
1957
GotamaThe Buddha (documentary) | Rajbhans Khanna (de Cannes). The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
This feature-length documentary competed with thirty feature films andwon a‘Mention Exceptionnelle (Unanimously Awarded)’ at Cannes. (de Cannes) (Some Indian writers have referred to it as the Jury Prize.)
Incidentally, Erik Balling’s Qivitoq, which won the ‘Prix Du Documentaire Romanesque (Award.Ex Aequo)’ is listed two notches below Gotama The Buddha on the Cannes website’s Awards section.
1958
Once again there were two Indian films that competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
Parash Pathar | Satyajit Ray-(de Cannes)
Pardesi / Хождение за три моря (Khozhdenie za tri moray)/ Journey Beyond Three Seas |Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Vasili Pronin.(de Cannes) This was an Indo-USSR co-production. However, the website of the Festival de Cannes has listed it as an Indian film.According to an Indian source the film was nominated for the Palme d'Or.
See Pardesi (1957)
1959
Lajwanti | Narendra Suri (de Cannes): The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category but its poster is missing from the Cannes website.
1960
Sujata |Bimal Roy (de Cannes)The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
1962
Devi |Satyajit Ray (de Cannes) The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
1964
Mujhe Jeene Do |Moni Bhattacharjee (de Cannes) The filmcompeted in Cannes’top ‘Selection’ category but its poster is missing from the Cannes website.
1968
Akbar | Santi S. Varma, was screened ‘In Competition> Short Films’ (de Cannes)
1974
Garam Hawa | M S Sathyu (de Cannes)The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
1980
Ekdin Pratidin |Mrinal Sen (de Cannes) The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
1976
Nishant |Shyam Benegal (de Cannes) The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
1981
Satah Se Uthata Aadmi |Mani Kaul, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section-(de Cannes)
1982
Mrinal Sen was made a member of the prestigious Feature Film jury (de Cannes)
1983
Kharij |Mrinal Sen -(de Cannes)The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
Kharij received the Jury prize, which is listed on the website of (de Cannes) as the second highest award, next only to the PALME D'OR, and higher than the Special Grand Prix for Monty Python
(Sonakshi Kurbah) and (Lagachu) add: Kharij was nominated for the Golden Palm
1984
de Cannes
Ghare Baire |Satyajit Ray (de Cannes) The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
Khandhar |Mrinal Sen, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section(de Cannes) It is wrong to say that it was screened out of competition in 1984 ([1])
1986
Genesis |Mrinal Sen (de Cannes) The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.
1988
Antarjali Jatra |Gautam Ghose was screened under Un Certain Regard (de Cannes)
Salaam Bombay! | Mira Nair. It won the Camera d'Or [“Caméra d'or is given to the best first film from the Official Selection, La Semaine de la Critique and the Directors' Fortnight.” Salaam Bombay! was screened in the Directors' Fortnight.] (de Cannes)
(Soujanya Sridharan | The Hindu) and ([htp://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/the-history-of-india-at-cannes-639287 Manisha Dhingra |NDTV]) add that Salaam Bombay!won Audience awards.
1989
Piravi |Shaji N Karun was screened in Un Certain Regard. It won the second Camera d’Or in that category (de Cannes) and not a mere Special Mention ([htp://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/the-history-of-india-at-cannes-639287]).
Ganashatru | Satyajit Ray was screened at a special screening (de Cannes) and not out of competition. ([htp://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/the-history-of-india-at-cannes-639287]),([2])
1991
Ishanou | Aribam Syam Sharma was screened underUn Certain Regard (de Cannes)
Sam & Me | Deepa Mehta (Canada) won the Camera d'Or in the Critics Weekcategory. (de Cannes)
1994
Swaham |Shaji N Karun's The film competed in Cannes’ top ‘Selection’ category.(de Cannes)
Uttoran | Sandeep Ray was screened in the Un Certain Regard section(de Cannes)
1995
Indradhanura Chhai | Susant Misra was screened in the Un Certain Regard section(de Cannes) but did not compete for the Grand Prize ([htp://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/the-history-of-india-at-cannes-639287]),([3])
1997
Gudia |Goutam Ghose was screened in the Un Certain Regard section(de Cannes)
1998
The Sheep Thief | Asif Kapadia (UK)is not one of the films listed in the official ‘Short Films’or ‘All Awards’ sections. However, (de Cannes) confirms that it received the Cinefondation Award in 1998.
1999
Vanaprastham | Shaji N Karun, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section(de Cannes)
Marana Simhasanam | Murali Nair, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section(de Cannes) It won the Camera d'Or (de Cannes)
2002
A Very Very Silent Film | Manish Jha, was screened in the Short Films category. (de Cannes)It won the ‘Jury Prize for Short Film (Award.Ex Aequo)’(de Cannes)
Devdas | Sanjay Leela Bhansali had an‘out of competition’ screening (de Cannes)
2003
Arimpara | Murali Nair, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section(de Cannes)
Aishwarya Rai was a member on thejury for feature films, which is the most prestigious of the juries. (de Cannes)
2005
Nandita Das was on the top rung jury for feature films. de Cannes
2006
Chinese Whispers | Raka Dutta, was screened in the Cinéfondation competition. de Cannes
2007
(Soujanya Sridharan | The Hindu) writes that “Veyil, a movie from 2006, was the first Tamil movie to be screened at Cannes.”
Two searches each, using the ‘Search’ button on the Festival de Cannes site yielded ‘0 results’ for ‘Veyil,’ ‘English: Summer’ (the film’s title in English), Vasanthabalan’ (the film’s writer and director)or ‘ ‘Vasantha Balan’ (the last one fetched a dirty photo of Vidya Balan instead).With the same lack of results Indpaedia searched manually under Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out Of Competition, Cinéfondation and Short Films in 2006 (there were no Special Screenings), and under Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out Of Competition, Special Screenings, Cinéfondation and Short Films in 2007. Hours of wasted effort.
Maybe the film should be ‘searched’ for using some other expressions.
2008
About The Guide | Vijay Anand, Tad Danielewski, (Sonakshi Kurbah) wrote: ‘42 years after its theatrical release, the film was invited for a screening at the festival’s classics section.’
Readers who have read the Indpaedia page Guide (1966) would have noticed that the English-language film The Guide (1965/ dir Tad Danielewski) and the Hindi-Urdu film called Guide (1966, dir: Vijay Anand) were two different films. The English film had some American actors and characters that its Hindi-Urdu namesake did not, though both had the same producer, the same main cast and broadly the same story. They were not dubbed versions of each other.
Prints of the English version have long been considered lost and if (Sonakshi Kurbah) is right about the Tad Danielewski version, this would have been a major coup.
However, the (de Cannes) website makes itclear that it was the 179-minute Vijay Anand (and, thus, Hindi-Urdu) version that was screened in the ‘RESTORED PRINTS’ section of ‘CANNES CLASSICS.’
2010
Udaan | Vikramaditya Motwane, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section.(de Cannes)
Khandahar | Mrinal Sen was screened in the ‘Restored Prints’ section of ‘Cannes Classics.’(de Cannes)
2011
(Soujanya Sridharan | The Hindu) writes, ‘Chatrak , an Indian-Bengali drama by Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara was screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section.’
Once again, searches for Chatrak. and Mushrooms (its English title) through the ‘Search’ button on the Festival de Cannes site yielded ‘0 results’. However, Sri Lankan director Vimukthi Jayasundara has had two appearances at Cannes: In 2003 with his Vide Pour L'amour, which was screened in the Cinéfondation category; and in 2005 with his The Forsaken Land/ Sulanga Enu Pinisa, which was screened in the Un Certain Regard category. Indpaedia looked for the Directors’ Fortnight button on the 2011 and 2012 pages, both unsuccessfully.
However, Quinzaine Realisateurs has confirmed the film’s participation in the Directors’ Fortnight.
2012
2012 Miss Lovely | Ashim Ahluwalia,was screened in the Un Certain Regard section. (de Cannes)
2012 Gangs of Wasseypur (1 & 2) |Anurag Kashyap |
Sonakshi Kurbah,[htp://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/the-history-of-india-at-cannes-639287 Manisha Dhingra |NDTV], Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express and Soujanya Sridharan | The Hinduall write that the film was screened during the Directors' Fortnight.
Searches for ‘Anurag Kashyap’ through the ‘Search’ button on the Festival de Cannes site yielded ‘3 results:’ to a page about Anurag Kashyap, to Udaan and to Bombay Talkies. Nothing about Gangs of Wasseypur.
However, Quinzaine Realisateurs has confirmed the film’s participation in the Directors’ Fortnight.
Peddlers | Vasan Bala (writer-director). (Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express) writes that the film ‘featured at Cannes’ Critics Week’ Muslim ([htp://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/the-history-of-india-at-cannes-639287 Manisha Dhingra |NDTV]) that the film was in the ‘Feature Film line up.’
However, searches on the Cannes website for Peddlers and Vasan Bala yielded ‘0 results.’
2013
Twovery well-meaning journalist[htp://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/the-history-of-india-at-cannes-639287]wrote separately to the effect that‘The festival was inaugurated by Amitabh Bachchan who had a role in opening film The Great Gatsby.’
Was it really?
The headline of the (de Cannes) article said something quite else: ‘Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scott Fitzgerald to inaugurate the Festival de Cannes.’
The news item quoted someone (very obviously Baz Luhrmann) as saying, ‘It is a great honor for all those who have worked on The Great Gatsby to open the Cannes Film Festival.’
The storyadded, ‘This prestigious occasion will also be graced with the presence of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, as well as the American pop star, rapper Jay-Z.’ (Emphases added.)
Ugly |Anurag Kashyap | (Sonakshi Kurbah) wrote: It was screened at the Directors' Fortnight
Searches for ‘Anurag Kashyap’ through the ‘Search’ button on the Festival de Cannes site yielded nothing about Ugly. However, Quinzaine Realisateurs has confirmed the film’s participation in the Directors’ Fortnight.
The Lunchbox | Ritesh Batra | Sonakshi Kurbah, Soujanya Sridharan | The Hindu and [htp://movies.ndtv.com/bollywood/the-history-of-india-at-cannes-639287 Manisha Dhingra |NDTV]wrote that the film was showcased at the International Critics’ Week of the 2013 Cannes festival and was the winner of the Viewer's Choice Award.
However, searches for ‘The Lunchbox’ and ‘Ritesh Batra’ through the ‘Search’ button on the Festival de Cannes site yielded nothing about either. Nor did a manual search of ‘All Awards’ in 2013 and 2014.
Vidya Balan was on the top rung jury for feature films. (de Cannes)
Nandita Das was a member of the Cinéfondation and Short Films juries. de Cannes
Bombay Talkies (an anthology film) | Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, was screened in the category ‘Special Screenings.’ (de Cannes) and not ‘out of competition.’
Monsoon Shootout | Amit Kumar's was screened ‘out of competition.’ (de Cannes)
Charulata | Satyajit Ray, represented Indian cinema to mark ‘100 Years Of Indian Cinema’ in the Cannes Classics section. (de Cannes)
2014
Titli | Kanu Behl was screened in the Un Certain Regard category (de Cannes)
(Sonakshi Kurbah), (Manisha Dhingra |NDTV) and (Lagachu) add: Titli even came close to winning the Camera d’Or– an award for the best first feature film.
2015
Maasan | Neeraj Ghaywan was screened in the Un Certain Regard category.(de Cannes). It was one of two films to be given the ‘Promizing [sic] Future Prize (Award.Ex Aequo)’ (de Cannes)
Chauthi Koot | Gurvinder Singh,was screened in the Un Certain Regard category. (de Cannes).
Amy | Asif Kapadia (UK) was screened in the category ‘Out of Competition’ (de Cannes)
2016
Gudh (Nest)| Saurav Rai, was screened in the Cinefondation competition. (de Cannes)
Memories And My Mother | Vikram Sengupta, was, according to (Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express, screened at Cannes Cinefondation’s l’Atelier 2016. However, the Festival de Cannes site mentions neither the director nor the film.
The Cinema Travellers/ Les Cinémas Voyageurs | Shirley Abraham , Amit Madheshiya. (de Cannes) About the film a well-meaning journalist ([4]) wrote, ‘The Cinema Travellers was screened under the Cannes Classics category.’ While this information is somewhat incorrect, the journalist can not be blamed.
In 2016 only one film was screened in the ‘Cannes Classics’ category, the legendary Bertrand Tavernier’s Voyage A Travers Le Cinema Francais (a 2016 film).
Cannes Classics are, normally, films that were made several decades ago. The Cinema Travellers was (like maestro Tavernier’s film) only a few months old. The sub-sub-category that it was screened under was ‘Cannes Classics> Documentaries About Cinema>First Film.
Raman Raghav 2.0 |Anurag Kashyap | Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express) and (Sonakshi Kurbah) write that it was screened at the Directors' Fortnight. Like other films in the Directors' Fortnight, Raman Raghav 2.0 does not show up in Searches within the Cannes site. However, Quinzaine Realisateurs has confirmed the film’s participation in the Directors’ Fortnight.
You Are My Sunday | Milind Dhaimade, was screened at Cannes according to (Deshpande | PinkVilla ). However, the Festival de Cannes site mentions neither the director nor the film.
Mount of Excellence |Shivajee Chandrabhushan was, according to Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express, screened among documentary films.
Indpaedia searched manually under ‘Short Films’ and looked for ‘Mount of Excellence’ and ‘Shivajee Chandrabhushan’ through the ‘Search’ button on the Festival de Cannes site, without getting a confirmation about either.
Baahubali | SS Rajamouli was, according to Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express, screened at Cannes.
Indpaedia searched manually under Out Of Competition, Special Screenings and Cinéma De La Plage ‘and looked for ‘Baahubali,’ Bahubali’ (official spelling) and ‘SS Rajamouli’ through the ‘Search’ button on the Festival de Cannes site, but got ‘0 results.’
2017
2017 is considered a blank year for India because ‘no Indian film ha[d] made it to Cannes in 2017.’
Well, not quite.
Two young ladies kept the national flag flying at Cannes.
Dopahar Ke Badal / Afternoon Clouds | Payal Kapadia (short) was screened in the category Cinefondation. (de Cannes)
Payal Kapadia was a Film and Television Institute of India student, and her film was part of the section for film school projects,
Village Rockstars | Rima Das.This was one of four titles selected by the Hong Kong-Asian Film Financing Forum for the Marche du Film (Cannes Film Market) section, according to (Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express. Naturally, the Festival de Cannes site mentions neither the director nor the film.
Village Rockstars by Assam’s Rima Das was then part of a new ‘work-in-progress’ section at the film market.
Nandita Das and the actors of her Manto, viz., Rasika Dugal and Nawazuddin Siddiqui were there at the India Pavilion to unveil the film’s poster and play clips from the film.
2018
Manto |Nandita Das, was screened in the category Un-Certain Regard. (Festival de Cannes)
2018 Sir (India / France) | Rohena Gera |Got its world premiere at the International Critics’ Week. (Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express) Naturally, the Festival de Cannes site mentions neither the director nor the film.
However, (Semaine de la Critique) confirms that the film was a part of the Critics’ Week, as a Feature Film.
2018 Dogma | Ankit Bidyadhar (It was a short film, but Festival de Cannes does not mention its category)
2018 Neighbourhood Ties | Diya Ghosh (United Kingdom) (It was a short film, but Festival de Cannes does not mention its category.)
2018 Sesh Proshno |: Soumadeep Sen (It was a short film, but Festival de Cannes does not mention its category)
Four National Award-winning regional arthouse films— Village Rockstars, Bhayanakam, Sinjar and Nagarkirtan were screened at the India Pavilion at Cannes. (Suparna Dutt D'Cunha | Forbes)
Nandita Das and the actors of her Manto, viz., Rasika Dugal, Divya Dutta, Rajshri Deshpande, Tahir Raj Bhasin and Nawazuddin Siddiqui were there at the India Pavilion to unveil the film’s poster and played clips from the film.
The members of the Indian delegation included Prasoon Joshi, Chairman of CBFC, Vani Tripathi Tikoo, member CBFC and filmmakers Shaji N. Karun, Jahnu Barua and Bharat Bala. This year FICCI took over took over the management of the pavilion from NFDC.
The Indian pavilion showcased:
Dhanush’s first international project The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir
T for Tajmahal,
The Tashkent Files
Bhonsle (Manoj Bajpayee was the film’s leading man and also one of the film’s producers).
Actor Manoj Bajpayee calls his Cannes Film Festival trips jinxed. He could be there only for a day on his first visit in 2012 when his Gangs of Wasseypur played in the Director’s Fortnight. This year he has been in Cannes barely for three days to unveil the poster and first look of the upcoming Bhonsle, in which he doesn’t just play the eponymous role but.
2021
Director Payal Kapadia’s A Night Of Knowing Nothing won the Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) award for best documentary at the 74th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. The Mumbai-based filmmaker and FTII alumni’s first [film] was up against 28 other documentaries presented across various sections of the festival. It screened as part of the Directors’ Fortnight. The Oeil d’or jury was headed by American documentary producer Ezra Edelman, and the award was instituted in 2015 by LaScam (the French-Speaking Writers’ Society) and Bertuccelli in collaboration with the Cannes Film Festival. A Night Of Knowing Nothing follows a university student in India, who writes letters to her estranged lover while he is away. PTI
2022
India was the ‘Country of Honour’ at the Cannes Film Market
India sent five start ups to pitch to the audio-visual industry aside from 10 professionals for the animation-day networking.
R Madhavan’s ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ was premiered and screened
Centenary year of Satyajit Ray: India screened the digitally remastered ‘Pratidwandi’.
Restoration World Premiere: The Cannes Film Festival selected ‘Thamp’ (The Circus Tent) (1978) by Aravindan Govindan.
India’s Film Bazaar/ ‘Work in Progress’ premiered the following at the ‘Goes to Cannes’ section
Assamese film ‘Baghjan’ by Jaicheng Zxai Dohutia,
Shailendra Sahu’s Chhattisgarhi film ‘Bailadila’,
Ektara Collective’s Hindi film ‘Ek Jagah Apni’ (A Space of Our Own),
Harshad Nalawade’s ‘Follower’ in Marathi, Kannada and Hindi,
Jai Shankar’s ‘Shivamma’ in Kannada.
The juries and Indians
The following years saw Indian representation in the jury
1950? A journalist ([5]) writes that Chetan Anand was the first jury member from India and that this was in 1950.
Firstly, there was no festival at Cannes in 1950.Their official website says that there was a lack of funds in 1948 and 1950. Therefore, Indpaedia searched for Chetan Anand in the 1949 and 1951 juries, all without success.
Chetan Anand’s profile on the (de Cannes) site does not mention his having been on any Cannes jury.
Thus Indpaedia had put in so much wasted effort,because the Festival’s official website clearly says that ‘from 1947 to 1954, the jury was made up entirely of French celebrities.’
Indpaedia then manually searched every Feature Film and Short Film jury from 1955 to 1960, again with no mention of Mr Anand. Even more wasted effort.
1982: Mrinal Sen was a member of the Feature Films jury, which is the most prestigious of Cannes’ juries. (de Cannes)
2003: Aishwarya Rai was a member on the jury for feature films (de Cannes)
2005 Nandita Das was on the same jury for feature films. de Cannes
2009 Sharmila Tagore was a member of the jury for feature films. ([6])
2009 Uma Da Cunha was a member of the Un Certain Regard jury. (Festival de Cannes)
2011 Gitanjali Rao was among the jurors for the 2011 Critics Week short films, write Soujanya Sridharan | The Hinduand Shivangi Jalan | Indian Express. Gitanjali Rao could not be found through a Search on the Festival de Cannes website. In any case, the Critics’ Week, for short filmsor otherwise, is an unofficial category.
2013 Vidya Balan was on the top rung jury for feature films. (de Cannes)
2013 Nandita Das was a member of the Cinéfondation and Short Films juries. de Cannes
Nandita Das has thus been a Cannes jury member twice.
2013 was also the first year when two Indians were on Cannes’ official juries.
The ‘parallel,’ unofficial sections
Semaine Internationale de la Critique (SIC) Founded in 1962 by the Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma (French Film Critics Association), the Semaine Internationale de la Critique (International Critics' Week) was the world's first film festival sidebar. The event takes place in Cannes at the same time as the Festival de Cannes, but is run independently (although these days there is a lot of coordination between the respective organisations). The principal aim of the Critics' Week is to bring work from first and second time directors to a wider audience. The official selection is far smaller than that of the Festival de Cannes, with around 10 feature films in its competition, and a similar number of shorts. The Critics' Week also hosts a small number of special screenings alongside the competitive sections.
Participating films are chosen by an international panel of critics and sponsors. The Critics' Week has a long history of launching talented filmmakers on to the international stage. Notable alumni include, Bernardo Bertolucci, Barbet Schroeder, Ken Loach, Neil Jordan, John Sayles, and Kevin Smith, amongst others. In Cannes, the Critics' Week runs all screenings and other activities from its base at the Miramar on Rue Pasteur.
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
The Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors' Fortnight) is the second sidebar to spring up alongside the Festival de Cannes. Following the strife and eventual cancellation of the main festival in 1968, a group of French filmmakers resolved to create a new forum in which films could be presented free of politics, censorship, and elitism. 'The Quinzaine' was inaugurated in 1969 with a bumper programme of 62 features and 26 shorts. Although the programme has subsequently been slimmed down over the decades, the sidebar enjoys a slightly higher profile in Cannes than the Critics' Week due to the larger programme and current focus on films which have an interesting directorial voice. It's also the only Cannes programme which goes on tour after the main event, taking an abridged selection to a number of other cities in France and Europe. Like its older sidebar sibling, the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs is run independently of the Festival de Cannes, but all three organisations now work closely together to ensure a smooth festival experience for all. During the main festival, the Quinzaine is based in a townhouse on the Croisette called La Malmaison, located next to the JW Marriott.
ACID Cannes
The youngest of the sidebars, ACID Cannes was launched in 1993 by the Independent Film Distributors Association in France to showcase a small selection of films from around the world which embody independent spirit and are yet to secure distribution. Each year, the ACID selection screens around nine films and is one of the few Cannes programmes to include feature documentaries. ACID gets its mildly awkward moniker from the acronym for the rather cumbersome French name of its parent organisation – the Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion. The sidebar is also run independently from the Festival de Cannes, and for a long time did not enjoy the same cosy relationship as the other two sidebars. More recently, ACID has been given enhanced status by the Festival de Cannes, so has taken its place as the third 'approved' sidebar event in Cannes. ACID shares space in La Malmaison with the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, and after the main event in May, ACID goes on tour in several cities across France.
Marché du Film
Literally translating to "Film Market", but referred to by most as simply, "The Market", the Marché du Film is by far the largest event of its type in the world. Effectively a giant tradeshow, the Market has been an official part of Cannes since the early 1960s. This is where the film industry gets together to meet and do business, primarily the buying and selling of films. Although the market is run by a semi-autonomous division of the Festival de Cannes (and takes place at the same time), the event is not prestigious in any way. It is simply a business event open to anyone in the film industry who is looking to buy or has something to sell.
In addition to traditional participation as either a buyer or seller, the Market now offers two specialist registration tracks for producers. The first, the Producers' Network, was launched in the late-2000s and provides a special programme of events and workshops for newer (but not first-time) producers to make international contacts, broaden their skillset, and get business done in Cannes. The second track is known as the Producers' Workshop. Started in 2012, this programme provides a series of workshops at the outset of the Market to help new and first-time producers understand the international marketplace and make the most of their time at the Marché du Film.
Beyond the registration programmes for producers, the Market now has its own little posse of sidebars. Short Film Corner A dedicated market for short narrative and documentary films, which includes a series of events and workshops for short film makers.
NEXT Following the lead set by other major festivals like Sundance and SXSW, in 2014 Cannes added a programme to showcase cutting edge distribution technology and new forms of storytelling. In recent years this has meant a heavy focus on virtual reality, but the programme strives to take a more holistic view of emerging technologies, techniques, and business models. NEXT has a dedicated space in the Village International Pantiero, with events, demos, and free screenings.
Doc Corner
The focus in Cannes is directed firmly on the narrative end of the filmmaking spectrum, but documentary-makers are by nature, a plucky bunch. As a result, the Market has a small dedicated area for those interested in buying and selling factual films to go about their business, and to give the documentary film community a chance to network with their peers.
Frontières Platform
A joint venture between the Marché du Film and the Fantasia International Film Festival, the Frontières Platform provides a dedicated section of industry programming and networking events aimed at genre filmmakers. There's a series of invitation-only forums and mixers, plus a buyer’s showcase where participating genre projects (completed or in post) can be put in front of industry players.
Read more at https://www.cannesguide.com/cannes-festival-guide/structure-of-the-cannes-film-festival/part2.php#7yvAgsVJ4YwSgpUw.99
Notes old ilms that are screened Out of Competition are generally those that the Cannes selection committee really wants to recognize but don't quite fit the Competition criteria.
Un Certain Regard is often used to display first-time films, experimental techniques, and progressive trends showing up in the work of established directors but not yet recognized in mainstream cinema.
The Cinefondation category, established in 1998, is exclusively for film students currently enrolled in film school. These movies can only be fiction, either live action or animation, they can't be longer than one hour, and anything produced in the 18 months preceding the festival is fair game. Like the other sections of the Official Selection, a film can only qualify for Cinefondation if it has not been presented on an international scale.
Palme d'Or, which is awarded to the best feature film and the best short film in Competition.
he Camera d'Or is awarded by a separate jury to the best first-time film in the entire festival, including all sections of the Official Selection, the Directors' Fortnight and International Critics' Week. By Cannes standards, a "first-time film" is at least an hour long and its director has never before made a movie of that length for the cinema or TV.
Festival de Cannes
"In Competition", "Out of Competition", "Official Selection", "Critics' Week", "Directors' Fortnight", "the Market"... having been the first film festival to develop side-bar events, a casual observer could be forgiven for thinking Cannes now appears to be a bit of a confusing mess. In reality, there are actually five organisations overseeing eleven major sections that comprise what is commonly referred to as the "Cannes Film Festival". Compétition (Competition)
The competition is generally only open to narrative films, however occasionally the Festival slips in a documentary (such as Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" which won the top prize in 2004).
Courts Métrages (Short Films)
The short film competition runs in parallel to its bigger brother, presenting a selection of narrative shorts (under 15 minutes) from around the world. Films in this programme vie for the Palme d'Or Court Métrage (Golden Palm for Short Films) and may also be bestowed with a special jury prize to recognise outstanding work. The Courts Métrages programme normally includes seven to ten films.
Hors Compétition (Out of Competition)
Cannes was one of the first festivals to realise that there was value in inviting high-profile films to premiere at the event, even if they didn't necessarily qualify for a competition berth. More red carpets mean more celebrities to pose for photo calls. In turn, this works to enhance the festival's image in the eyes of the press and the cinema-going public, without compromising the artistic integrity of the competition. As a result, each year the Festival invites around five to ten films to screen "out of competition". These films still get the full red carpet treatment, but aren't eligible for any of the prizes. Typically, the programme includes highly-anticipated Hollywood blockbusters through to the latest work from a respected European auteur. And more recently, several high-profile documentaries have made the cut (such as Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Sequel"), plus at least one or two midnight screenings, reserved for films that lean towards the 'cult' end of the spectrum.
Un Certain Regard
Create in 1978 to streamline some of the festival's more ambiguous programmes, Un Certain Regard (which loosely translates as, "At a Glance") is the main showcase section of the event. Intended to be a "survey of current world cinema", it typically focusses on films from newer directors, films which use innovative storytelling techniques, and work from countries which have a low cinematic output. For several decades, Un Certain Regard was non-competitive, but in 2013 the Festival de Cannes introduced a small number of awards to the programme.
Cinéfondation
Debuting for the 51st festival in 1998, Cinéfondation is a competition for work from students at film schools around the world. 15 – 20 films are selected and go on to compete for a small number of awards
Cannes Classics
In recognition of the importance of film heritage, the Festival added a new section in 2004 which has become known as Cannes Classics. The programme is used to showcase new or restored prints of classic films, and occasionally, rediscovered footage from days gone by. The festival works closely with major international archive collections and leading restoration companies to present around five films in the programme each year.
Séances Spéciales (Special Screenings)
Not strictly an official section per se, in recent years the festival has screened a handful of films outside the official programmes (and rather confusingly, also outside of the Out of Competition selection). The number of films varies from year to year, and has included work from current auteurs, documentary-makers, and festival alumni.
Read more at https://www.cannesguide.com/cannes-festival-guide/structure-of-the-cannes-film-festival/#ChIxuskILUvBQyij.99
II
Semaine Internationale de la Critique (SIC)
Founded in 1962 by the Syndicat Français de la Critique de Cinéma (French Film Critics Association), the Semaine Internationale de la Critique (International Critics' Week) was the world's first film festival sidebar. The event takes place in Cannes at the same time as the Festival de Cannes, but is run independently (although these days there is a lot of coordination between the respective organisations). The principal aim of the Critics' Week is to bring work from first and second time directors to a wider audience. The official selection is far smaller than that of the Festival de Cannes, with around 10 feature films in its competition, and a similar number of shorts. The Critics' Week also hosts a small number of special screenings alongside the competitive sections.
Participating films are chosen by an international panel of critics and sponsors. The Critics' Week has a long history of launching talented filmmakers on to the international stage. Notable alumni include, Bernardo Bertolucci, Barbet Schroeder, Ken Loach, Neil Jordan, John Sayles, and Kevin Smith, amongst others. In Cannes, the Critics' Week runs all screenings and other activities from its base at the Miramar on Rue Pasteur.
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
The Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors' Fortnight) is the second sidebar to spring up alongside the Festival de Cannes. Following the strife and eventual cancellation of the main festival in 1968, a group of French filmmakers resolved to create a new forum in which films could be presented free of politics, censorship, and elitism. 'The Quinzaine' was inaugurated in 1969 with a bumper programme of 62 features and 26 shorts. Although the programme has subsequently been slimmed down over the decades, the sidebar enjoys a slightly higher profile in Cannes than the Critics' Week due to the larger programme and current focus on films which have an interesting directorial voice. It's also the only Cannes programme which goes on tour after the main event, taking an abridged selection to a number of other cities in France and Europe. Like its older sidebar sibling, the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs is run independently of the Festival de Cannes, but all three organisations now work closely together to ensure a smooth festival experience for all. During the main festival, the Quinzaine is based in a townhouse on the Croisette called La Malmaison, located next to the JW Marriott.
ACID Cannes
The youngest of the sidebars, ACID Cannes was launched in 1993 by the Independent Film Distributors Association in France to showcase a small selection of films from around the world which embody independent spirit and are yet to secure distribution. Each year, the ACID selection screens around nine films and is one of the few Cannes programmes to include feature documentaries. ACID gets its mildly awkward moniker from the acronym for the rather cumbersome French name of its parent organisation – the Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion. The sidebar is also run independently from the Festival de Cannes, and for a long time did not enjoy the same cosy relationship as the other two sidebars. More recently, ACID has been given enhanced status by the Festival de Cannes, so has taken its place as the third 'approved' sidebar event in Cannes. ACID shares space in La Malmaison with the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, and after the main event in May, ACID goes on tour in several cities across France.
Marché du Film
Literally translating to "Film Market", but referred to by most as simply, "The Market", the Marché du Film is by far the largest event of its type in the world. Effectively a giant tradeshow, the Market has been an official part of Cannes since the early 1960s. This is where the film industry gets together to meet and do business, primarily the buying and selling of films. Although the market is run by a semi-autonomous division of the Festival de Cannes (and takes place at the same time), the event is not prestigious in any way. It is simply a business event open to anyone in the film industry who is looking to buy or has something to sell.
In addition to traditional participation as either a buyer or seller, the Market now offers two specialist registration tracks for producers. The first, the Producers' Network, was launched in the late-2000s and provides a special programme of events and workshops for newer (but not first-time) producers to make international contacts, broaden their skillset, and get business done in Cannes. The second track is known as the Producers' Workshop. Started in 2012, this programme provides a series of workshops at the outset of the Market to help new and first-time producers understand the international marketplace and make the most of their time at the Marché du Film.
Beyond the registration programmes for producers, the Market now has its own little posse of sidebars.
Short Film Corner
A dedicated market for short narrative and documentary films, which includes a series of events and workshops for short film makers.
NEXT
Following the lead set by other major festivals like Sundance and SXSW, in 2014 Cannes added a programme to showcase cutting edge distribution technology and new forms of storytelling. In recent years this has meant a heavy focus on virtual reality, but the programme strives to take a more holistic view of emerging technologies, techniques, and business models. NEXT has a dedicated space in the Village International Pantiero, with events, demos, and free screenings.
Doc Corner
The focus in Cannes is directed firmly on the narrative end of the filmmaking spectrum, but documentary-makers are by nature, a plucky bunch. As a result, the Market has a small dedicated area for those interested in buying and selling factual films to go about their business, and to give the documentary film community a chance to network with their peers.
Frontières Platform
A joint venture between the Marché du Film and the Fantasia International Film Festival, the Frontières Platform provides a dedicated section of industry programming and networking events aimed at genre filmmakers. There's a series of invitation-only forums and mixers, plus a buyer’s showcase where participating genre projects (completed or in post) can be put in front of industry players.
