64e Festival de Cannes

Here we are again in May 2011 for a new edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The story continues, the story begins, the story is invented and re-invented every year and at the same time, the festival team and the city of Cannes prepare to greet artists and professionals from around the world. With, shall we say, love, appetite and impatience.

For it seems that floating on the Croisette is a scent of lightness, desire and peace. If each edition has a particular mood, 2011 is already, even before the first screen lights up, very exciting. Why, how and when does public opinion decides that "Cannes will be great this year"? It's a mystery ... and rightly so. Consider what is required: the enthusiasm of the press at the announcement of the selection on April 14th, the arrival of the greatest filmmakers, actors and other film artists, the massive return of professionals, film-buffs, and a vibrant Film Market. As to the weather, unless our favorite Icelandic volcano acts alone over the skies of Europe, we have done everything to make it perfect.

This year, Cannes has installed a little innovation here and there: As a guest, Egyptian film culture, home of great cinema, has signaled to the world their desire for democracy and freedom and like Tunisia, which will is also present, shows how cinema moves to the rhythm of world events; a feast of selections for film crews to meet each other rather than in competition or rivalry, or the stress of an audience’s reaction; Jean-Paul Belmondo, back in Cannes to receive an ovation from the world of cinema; a Palme d'Or of Honor awarded at the opening ceremony to Bernardo Bertolucci from the Jury President Robert De Niro, as his actor in 1900, will look on with fondness.
Between Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris at the opening of the festival and The Beloved by Christophe Honore closing, Cannes will deploy its charm, its mysteries and traditions: fifty films in the Official Selection, dozens of guests every day, hundreds of screenings, thousands of film-buffs.