Cannes, France - Distribution Mania!

         Among all of the film festivals around the world, the most prestigious and publicized is the Cannes Film Festival. The festival was founded in 1946 and is held annually in Cannes, France. Filmmakers, directors, distributors, buyers, and enthusiasts travel from all over the world to Cannes to take part in the crème de la crème of film festivals.    

        

         This past years 2012 festival took place from May 16th to May 27th. Every year a jury is elected to act as judges for the major films being shown at the festival. This years jury was led by Nanni Moretti. Moretti was voted best director in the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. In 2001, his film The Son's Room, won the Palme d’or, which is the most prestigious award one can get at the festival. Other members of the jury were made up actresses and directors from around the world. Some of these include:  Hiam Abbass, Andrea Arnold, Emmanuelle Devos, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Diane Kruger, Ewan McGregor, Alexander Payne, and Raoul Peck.

         

        Besides the major films, which are premiered at the festival, hundred of films are shown every day in over 50 theaters set up around the town of Cannes. This films range from small $1,000 budget projects to large scale, studio backed films.

         

        If you have ever attended the Cannes Film Festival, you know that it is all business by day and party by night. Every day of the film festival is full of hundreds of thousands of small meetings trying to make the next big film. Buyers who represent studios will go to a festival to try and find a film they feel that can make a lot of money. From there the buyer will meet with the film crew who owns the rights to the movie to discuss money and terms of contract. After this process a movie is then shopped around until a distribution deal is made.

         

        For independent filmmakers, the festival is an amazing way to promote and network their film. Every day there are different film corners, happy hours, and events for filmmakers to come together and network. For those who are lucky, their films will be discovered and they may be able to sign a distribution deal. A distribution deal is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for independent filmmakers. These deals are what they go to festivals all around the world for. If one thing is for sure, the Cannes Film Festival is the place to be for all advocates of film.