An Overview of the History of Film Festivals
In the film industry, festivals at which films are screened, judged, and evaluated and their producers, directors, and casts acknowledged with prestigious awards, have become increasingly commonplace in recent decades. There are few countries with a thriving film industry that do not sponsor one or more such festivals and many major cities or other locales have come to the realization that festivals of this type attract tourists, journalists, and filmgoers willing to spend at times substantial sums of money in pursuit of their interests (Cowie S13). This brief essay will examine the at times turbulent history of film festivals, demonstrating that as such festivals have proliferated, their have also begun to differentiate and to address either niche markets, genres, or constituencies.
The best-known film festival in the world is the Cannes Film Festival, first held in 1936. The oldest festival, according to Todd McCarthy (S3), was held in Venice in 1932; as Mussolini and the Nazis came to dominate the event, the Venice Festival jury exhibited its rejection of war and awarded top prize to Jean Renoir's pacifist-minded La Grande Illusion in 1938. The French, partly from aesthetic and partly from political motives, decided to counter Venice with their own event celebrating international cinema. Debate as to its location û both Cannes and Biarritz were proposed û was resolved when the Cannes city fathers agreed to construct a Palais to house the gathering (McCarthy S3).
The first Cannes festival was scheduled to take place in the first weeks of September 1939. Though many American and European celebrities set out to attend the festival and the Hollywood studios sent 10 films for screening, on the day the festival was to begin (September 1, 1939) Hitler invaded Poland. Only The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring Charles Laughton was shown and the rest of the festival was cancell...