Cannes Film Festival 2008

Motion pictures have attracted the human psyche ever since its invention. Films all over the world have an inexplicable charisma about them. People have different tastes and perceptions and accordingly, have different likes and dislikes regarding films as well. The Film Festivals all over the world are specifically organized to bring together various film buffs, filmmakers, critics and artists on a common platform. France is a seat of path-breaking and creative films and the various French filmmakers who have contributed largely to the world cinema are great bundles of talent. Hence Cannes Film Festival is one of the leading Film Festivals in the world.

Inaugurated in the year 1939 by French minister for Public Instruction and the Arts, Jean Zay, the Cannes Film Festival is held every year usually in the month of May at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres, in the town of Cannes, in the southern part of France. During the war the first International Film Festival was postponed; however, it restarted in 1946.

The programs at the Cannes Film Festival are generally scheduled according to the following norms:

The Official Selection

• In Competition
• Un Certain Regard
• Out of Competition
• Special Screenings
• Cinefondation
• Short Films

• Cannes Classics
• Touts les Cinemas du Monde
• Camera d'Or
• Cinema de la Plage

• Directors' Fortnight
• International Critics' Week

• Marche du Film
• Masterclasses
• Tributes
• Exhibitions
• 60th Anniversary

• Palme d'Or - Golden Palm
• Grand Prix - Grand Prize of the Festival
• Prix d'interpretation feminine - Best Actress
• Prix d'interpretation masculine - Best Actor
• Prix de la mise en scene - Best Director
• Prix du scenario - Best Screenplay
• Prix du Jury - Jury Prize
• Palme d'Or du court metrage - Best Short Film