Today in History – First Cannes Film Festival

CAIRO – 20 September 2017: September 20 marks the 71st anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, which first opened in France in 1946, and went on to become one of the world’s most important film festivals.

Originally titled the International Film Festival, the Cannes Festival came to be in 1939 as backlash over the Venice Film Festival turning into a vehicle for fascist propaganda. French diplomat Philippe Erlanger was outraged, and turned to Jean Zay, France’s Minister for Education and Fine Arts, for approval to create a cultural event that would rival the Venice Film Festival.

With Zay’s approval, Erlanger managed to organize a new festival to take place in France’s city of Cannes, a scenic place by the beach. The original plans were to hold the Festival from September 1 until September 20, and invite films from all around the world to fairly participate, as a way of minimizing tensions. The outbreak of World War II caused a 10 day delay that eventually lasted all six years of the world’s most brutal war.

Yet like a phoenix rising from the ashes, The International Film Festival would emerge again from the wreckage of war in 1946, raised with public funds that breathed hope into a France devastated by the horrors of WWII. Hoping that it would attract tourists, the French government approved the Festival, and it finally opened on September 20, 1946.

In total, 18 nations participated, and nine films received the Grand Prix du Festival. Though economic hardships canceled 1948’s and 1950’s festivals, the Cannes Film Festival would eventually come to be regarded as a highly important event, a triumph of the spirit of creativity from the ruins of war.