So I got curious about Cinéfondation, an incubator created within the Cannes Festival's ecosystem to lend certain filmmakers a helping hand, whether that's advice, a network, or funds. It's been two decades since its inception and I needed to situate this program within the festival's many other endeavors. Gilles Jacob, former president of the Cannes Festival, created Cinéfondation in 1998, over ... more >
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Twenty years on, the Cannes Festival’s Gilles Jacob remains an ardent believer in the Cinéfondation’s virtue to discover and foster new filmmaking talent
He was president of the Cannes Festival for four decades, and launched Un Certain Regard, in addition to Cinéfondation
CINEFONDATION awards prizes in ceremony on Friday
This program marks two decades in existence this year
The Cinefondation, which this year marks its twentieth anniversary, awarded prizes and money to three student filmmakers in a simple ceremony on Friday which was followed by a screening of the three winning films. Oscar winner Barry Jenkins was a part of a jury presided by Cristian Mungiu, recipient of the Palme D’Or in 2007. Other members of the jury included French actress Clotilde Hesme, ... more >
CANNES PRESIDENCY — It’s a power grab!
Former TV network padron Pierre Lescure wants in
Paris--Ever since the launching of French television network and film distributor CanalPlus in the early eighties (of which he was a central part) media capitan Pierre Lescure has led the charge in terms of edgy programming and driving audiences' expectations for top-notch entertainment ever higher. Whether it's entertainment or art (or both) and it is destined for the small or big screen or the ... more >
CANNES FESTIVAL – The backstory of the festival’s musical theme
A piece of the Cannes myth is revealed
I was looking for some music online when, by some coincidence, I ran into the “Carnival of the Animals” suite by French romantic composer Camille de Saint Saëns. The arrangement I found was by Barry Wordsworth and the London Symphonic Orchestra. The melodies had a pleasant, cinematic quality to them. The titles of the arrangements, “Kangaroos,” “People with long ears,” sounded as if they’d ... more >
Gilles Jacob
Gilles Jacob's passion for cinema is clear: throughout his career he has always placed art before commerce. At the helm of the Cannes Film Festival since 1977, you might say he's a walking history book of the cinematic arts. Initially a film critic for French daily L'Express, Jacob was fired after he wrote a negative review. In 1968, he selected Andrzej Wajda's "L'Homme de Marbre," which had been ... more >