How Often And When Is The Cannes Film Festival Held?

The Cannes Film Festival is held every year, usually in May,  in the resort of Cannes in the South of France. Founded in 1939 the festival is considered to be a showcase event for the top performers in the industry. The Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award is the pinnacle of the event. This is the prize for best film screened at Cannes. Voted for by a jury of industry professionals the prize helps launch and sustain careers in a very competitive industry. Attendees at the festival are either there to promote themselves and their projects or to find projects in which it is worth investing time and money. The festival provides the opportunity to watch the latest films, to network , to party, to gossip and, most importantly to pitch. Writers pitch ideas to film directors and producers, directors pitch to producers, producers pitch to investors and to distributors. Every activity is designed to move film projects from ideas to real films that we can go and see in our local cinemas or at least on DVD.