Cannes Film Festival Unveils Poster for 70th Anniversary

Italian actress Claudia Cardinale graces the 2017 Cannes Film Festival poster to celebrate 70 years of the worlds best cinema. If you're attending the market, May 17-28, please let us know. If we're not there to host our Cocktails in Cannes, we'll introduce your to our filmmakers in attendance. More importantly, let's just take a moment to let this sink in...70 years....! Well, VFF is on the verge of 20, so just another 50+ years to go.

Waves '98 Wins Palme d'Or for Short Film at Cannes Film Festival

Waves '98, a mixed media 14 minute film (animation and archival footage) took home the prestigious Palm d'Or, Short Film Category, at the 68th Annual Cannes Film Festival. 

Written and Directed by Lebanese filmmaker, Ely Dagher, Waves '98 follows Omar, a teenager growing up in Beirut, sometime between post-war 1990's and today's uncertain future. A dreamer at heart, an unexpected discovery leads Omar to explore outside of his reality. 

Congrats to Ely and to the other eight short filmmakers who were talented enough to be programmed in competition. 

Cannes 2012...The Application Process

If you consider yourself “in” the industry, then attending the Cannes Film Festival, or Festival de Cannes, is a must. After, of course, attending The Valley Film Festival. Fortunately, the two are months apart.

Yes, we understand that your credit cards are maxed out from your last production, and that you’re between projects, and like most of the industry, you haven’t worked in months. Trust us, VFF gets it. We’re all volunteers with various stages of work and project commitments, or lack thereof. That being said, if your presence at work/home can be spared for one week, attending Festival de Cannes is a must to revitalize your artistic soul and renew your industry contacts.

Worried about the logistics? Don’t. VFF will tell you how to do Cannes on a budget that even an unemployed screenwriter can afford. Really! With almost a year to go until the next festival, you, too, can Cannes.

In this post, we’ll focus on the application process.

First, save the dates for the 65^th Festival de Cannes: May 9-20^th, 2012.

Next, follow the Festival de Cannes on Facebook, Twitter, or via the festival's RSS feed to know when the accreditation process opens. And, when it does, apply as early as possible. Oh, yeah, and it’s free. Yes, a full festival, professional badge to the most prestigious film festival in the world is FREE. You have nothing to lose by applying.

Navigating the badge system seems straight forward – the festival website offers accreditation in four different categories: Festival (film professionals), Press (media professionals), Marche du Film (professionals who buy or sell films) and Cannes Cinephiles (lovers of film) – but it’s really complex, with different levels of access and priorities.

Additionally, there are 1, 2, and 3-day passes, and Short Film Corner badges. 

Most likely, you'll apply for the Festival badge. This is the badge for film professionals and it grants you access to the Palais des Festival, Marche du Film, Village International, badge-only hotels such as the Majestic and Carlton, Short Film Corner, and Official Selection screenings.

Just a few years ago, one had to snail mail a CV and physical collateral supporting professional claims. Now that festival accreditation is online, it’s pretty simple. You’ll be asked to supply a link to your credits or attach a PDF. You should link to your IMDB page or an online CV that best showcases your artistic talents. If you’re a freelancer, you should have your own website (not a Facebook page) or, at the very least, a LinkedIn profile.

MMV Cannes-Mandelieu Resort

You’ll also be asked to indicate where you’ll be staying while in Cannes. This seems like a trick question, right? Who knows where they’re going to stay four months down the road? Don’t leave this section blank. It’s our belief that if the Office of Accreditation sees that you have accommodation lined up, they’ll know that you’re already committed to the festival. VFF uses the physical address of the MMV Cannes-Mandelieu Resort, because it’s an affordable hotel we’ve stayed at before, and it's our trusted back-up plan if nothing better comes along. And by better, we mean something closer to the Croisette or near the beach. The MMV Cannes-Mandelieu Resort is an all-suites hotel, about 4 miles from the Croisette, and it offers free shuttle service to and from the Palais des Festival. It’s an awesome hotel and can comfortably sleep 4 in a standard suite.

Finally, you’ll be asked to leave a comment. Again, don’t leave this section blank. If you don’t have a specific question to ask, say something nice about the festival (it’s not hard) or mention why you want to attend. By saying something, anything, you're letting the Office of Accreditation know that you respect their time and the festival.

It goes without saying, but if your primary email address is something along the lines of “PartyGirl55” or “NFLKid007” @, you should probably create a free Gmail account, use your work email (even if you’re not attending on your company’s behalf), or ask a really good industry friend, with their own domain, to create a temporary email account for you. 

Now, if you’re a filmmaker with a spare $100 USD to submit a recent short film to the Short Film Corner, do it! It’s so worth it. Submitting to the Short Film Corner is NOT the same thing as submitting a film to the Festival de Cannes. While organized by the festival, the Short Film Corner is a mini-market for short films, and has a slew of fantastic opportunities for filmmakers. Provided your film meets certain conditions, filmmakers are all but guaranteed inclusion in the Short Film Corner...which comes with two all-access festival badges. The Short Film Corner badge will get you into everything the professional “Festival” badge will get you into: Palais des Festival, Marche du Film, Village International, etc.  By the way, it’s free to submit a short film to Festival de Cannes, so you should do that too. Competition is fierce, but you have nothing to lose.

Ok, let’s suppose you don’t have a short film to submit to the Short Film Corner, and you just received a rejection letter for the professional “Festival” badge. Now what? Chances are, the Office of Accreditation will soften the blow and offer you a Cannes Cinephiles badge instead. If your main goal is to soak up the sun and perhaps catch a film or two, go ahead and accept it. The Cannes Cinephiles badge was originally designed as a “locals only” badge and will not allow you to access the Palais des Festival, Marche du Film, Village International, etc. It will only allow you access to select Cannes Cinephile screenings, in select screening rooms, somewhere in Cannes. We’ve never been able to track down this screening room, so it’s off the beaten path for sure.

If you want more out of the festival, thank the Office of Accreditation for their consideration and clearly indicate that you do not wish to accept the Cannes Cinephiles badge. Be gracious and respectful. 

Why refuse the Cannes Cinephiles badge, you ask? Great question. If you’re in the Festival de Cannes computer system as a Cannes Cinephiles badge holder, you will not be able to purchase a day pass.  There is some weird technicality that will not allow you to buy a temporary badge if you’ve already been assigned one.

You can purchase a 1, 2, or 3-day pass for about 20 euros a day. The days are consecutive and you can only make the request once. A day pass will give you access to all of the areas covered by the professional Festival badge. If you’re in town for a week, you should wait at least a day to acclimate yourself to the festival before buying your day pass. If you know someone at the festival with a Festival, Short Film Corner, or Marche du Film badge, ask them to accompany you to the day pass office. You don’t need to have a “sponsor” to purchase a day pass, but having someone vouching for your professional reasons to be inside the Marche is a plus.  This is not the time to flaunt your credits or pull rank. Instead, use this moment to say you’ve made an appointment with XYZ company or have been invited to a Short Film Corner screening.

Now that you’ve been granted a badge, or have decided to go without one, we’ll cover logistics, festival must-dos (with our without a badge), non-festival activities, and more. We want you to enjoy Festival de Cannes as much as we do!

The Valley Film Festival Can Cannes!

Two months ago, when Professional Accreditation applications became available for the 2011 Festival de Cannes, I submitted mine with fingers crossed. This is the third year I've applied.

Three years ago, requests were only accepted by snail mail. One had to include a CV, a letter of intent, and professional collateral. It was an ordeal and it took about a month to get approval. In the end, I received an email stating I had received the Professional Accreditation, but when I went to pick up the credential, I was given the limited and less desirable Cinephiles badge. It was "less desirable" to me because my intent was to network with independent filmmakers in the Short Film Corner and meet the international film commissions. The fabulous Cannes volunteers could see that the paperwork I held and the information in their system differed, and they tried to help, but in the end couldn't make it happen. They did, however, grant me a 2-day temporary pass to access the areas the Cinephiles badge wouldn't.

2010 was the first year applications were accepted online & my full-fledged access was granted in just over two weeks. Sadly, the VFF crew that went the year before was unable to scrounge up the money to make the trek together again. And, in the end, I opted to forgo Cannes.

This year, I received my accreditation in under 24 hours! A record. Regardless of who else is going, I will be there. But, I have a suspicion that some familiar VFF faces will be roaming the Croisette too and I hope you'll join us for a toast at Caffe Roma.

Monday, May 16 @ 3pm

Caffe Roma (across from the Palais)

1 Square Merimee

Cannes, France

More info and RSVP via Facebook or Eventbrite.

Focus On: Networking...Monthly Mixer, Sherman Oaks Street Fair, and AFM

It's T-Minus 28 days to VFF10 and we have a lot on our plate in the next few days:

First, The Valley Film Festival will be at the Sherman Oaks Street Fair this Sunday, 10/17, from 10am-6pm. This is the largest community event in The Valley, and takes place on Ventura Blvd., between Van Nuys & Kester. Come find us in booth #322, which is closer to Kester. Or so we're told. 

Next, we're hanging with our friends at Dances With Films on Tuesday, October 19, from 7:30-9:30pm in Santa Monica. We know. We know. It's not The Valley, but we need to mingle with the West Sider's too. There is no charge to attend the event but food/beverages are at your own expense. RSVP on our Facebook page or just show up! Look for either the DWF or VFF logo!

Tuesday, October 19 (7:30-9:30pm)

Angel's Piano Bar

2460 Wilshire Blvd.

Santa Monica, CA

Certainly not least, the American Film Market (AFM) is coming to town, November 3-10, in Santa Monica. If you're an indie filmmaker and can't travel to Cannes, AFM is worth investing in. Sadly, VFF won't be attending the exhibits this year as it's only days before VFF10, but we do want to organize an event so that we can meet our foreign indie filmmaker friends visiting L.A. Let us know if you want to join.