Cannes Film Festival: Iconic Moments
Nestled along the sunny French Riviera is the glistening seaside city of Cannes...
The balmy ocean breeze nudges you into instant bliss as one strolls along the famous ocean Promenade de la Croisette, tracing the bejeweled blue Mediterranean Sea, leading you to the famous Palais du Festival, the venue of the Cannes Film Festival film screening events.
From the famous red-carpet stairway leading to its grand entrance; all of 24 steps; where the 60 meters of red carpet is changed thrice daily to ensure spotless and crease-free shine, this is where it all happens.
For the past 75 years, countless directors to actors/actresses and glitterati have paraded up those famous stairs; some to super stardom with their massive wins at the Cannes Film Festival that made their careers and others who were just happy to partake in the pomp and pageantry; just to be seen. 2023 this year is the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
From real life fairytales to newsmaking moments to provocative antics, the Cannes Film Festival has seen it all (!)
Here are CinemaWorld’s picks of 10 iconic moments of this grand dame of all film festivals - the Cannes Film Festival.
A. The annual Cannes Film Festival poster unveil is one of the most hotly anticipated events of this world-renowned film festival. Our favorite poster is 2012, the 65th Cannes Film Festival featuring a B/W photo of the ever-beautiful Marilyn Monroe blowing out a candle of a birthday cake. 2012 was the year that CinemaWorld launched across Asia.
B. Famous kisses chosen for the Cannes Film Festival poster – CinemaWorld’s favorite is Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in the 1963 film A NEW KIND OF LOVE for the 2013 Cannes Film Festival poster.
C. Dubbed “Heelgate” in 2015--actresses objected to mandatory wearing of high heels to red carpet movie screenings during Cannes Film Festival 2016. Julia Roberts famously walked barefooted on the red carpet, in continued support of ‘Heelgate”.
D. Fairytale Romancing real life – Grace Kelly met her Prince Rainier at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival, which she almost refused to attend until the last minute.
E. A wave of real-life jewel heists shocked the Cannes Film Festival in 2013. The last of that string of heists (noticeably inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock film TO CATCH A THIEF, 1955 starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant) saw 103 million euros worth of jewels being stolen from an exhibition at the even more famous Carlton hotel. The thieves were never caught!
F. Famous wardrobe malfunctions – 2005 Cannes Film Festival, Sophie Marceau caused a frenzied stir on the Red Carpet when the strap of her dress slid off, exposing her “delicate”. Back then, the sight of a bare nipple could still shock the world!
G. At the TRUTH OR DARE premiere at 1991 Cannes Film Festival, Madonna debuts her cone bra by then enfant terrible French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier. Back then, it was deemed a provocative fashion statement!
H. World War One shut down the inaugural Cannes Film Festival in 1939. This 1st Cannes Film Festival was only in 1946, post WWII.
I. Covid19 shuts down the 73rd in-person Cannes Film Festival in 2020.
J. Every year, the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival prepare at least two different Palm d’Or trophies in the event of an accident or two winners being announced. Each golden Palm branch on this coveted trophy is made of 18 carat gold costing Euros 20,000.
Catch your choice of Cannes Film Festival movies this May on CinemaWorld On-Demand:
ADAM (Morocco) - Cannes Film Festival 2019, Un Certain Regard Award Nominee (directed by Maryam Touzani, featuring Lubna Azabal, Nisrin Erradi, Douae Belkhaouda and Aziz Hattab)
THE GOLDEN DREAM (Mexico) – Cannes Film Festival 2013, Golden Camera Award Nominee (featuring Brandon López, Rodolfo Domínguez and Carlos Chajon)
ONE FLOOR BELOW (Romania) – Cannes Film Festival 2015, Un Certain Regard Award Nominee (directed by Radu Muntean, featuring Teodor Corban, Vlad Ivanov and Ioana Flora)
SOFIA (France/Qatar) - Cannes Film Festival 2018, Un Certain Regard Award Nominee (featuring Maha Alemi, Sarah Perles, Lubna Azabal, Faouzi Bensaïdi, Nadia Benzakour and Nadia Niazi) 
