Not every film that goes to the Cannes Film Festival makes it to the red carpet — Here’s why!

Every year as the world wakes up to celebrate cinema, the city of Cannes lights up in grandeur. The Cannes Film Festival is regarded as the most prestigious and the biggest film festival in the world. And with its glory comes the specifics and a strict selection process. Not every film that is submitted makes it to the official screening lineup and even when a film is said to be headed to Cannes it is not necessarily in the official screening list. 

Inside Cannes: How films are selected and screened

Behind the glamour of the red carpet, a massive year-long selection process determines which films make it to Cannes. However, not every film that reaches the festival is showcased in the same way. Final entries typically fall into two categories: the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival, or participation in the Marché du Film, the festival’s dedicated film market.

At this market film projectors are set up to screen the films to the distributors, buyers and all the professionals who might be interested in investing in the project. This year some of the Indian films that are screened here include Balan: The Boy, Chardikala, Bombay Stories, Joseph's Son and others. 

All about The Marché du Film

The Marché du Film officially began in 1959 and became a meet-and-greet session for film enthusiasts. The market was introduced to bring structure to this growing demand and connect global film industries in one place. It is regarded as the largest film market where all the selling, distributing and buying goes on like any other market in the world. While the festival celebrates cinema as art, the Marché du Film powers cinema as an industry.

Now as for the official selection only a handful gets the ticket to glory. The highest award here is the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) and the second most prestigious award is the Grand Prix. This year only two Indian films, Shadows of the Moonless Night and Amma Ariyan secured a place in the Official Selection and will be showcased on this global stage.

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