Cannes Festival: springboard for some, others forgotten
The world's most prestigious film festival at Cannes has acted as a springboard for numerous, often young, filmmakers to gain worldwide recognition, but has also become notable for its glaring omissions.
US filmmaker Steven Soderbergh in 1989 became at the age of 26 the youngest ever director to win the Cannes Festival's coveted Golden Palm for his first film "Sex, Lies and Videotape".
He went on to become one of Hollywood's most influential directors, with among other films "Erin Brokovitch", "Ocean's Eleven" and "Traffic".
Compatriot Quentin Tarantino, crowned in 1994 at the age of 32 for his second film "Pulp Fiction", has had a similar meteoric rise.
Whether through the official competition or other sections of the festival, Cannes has made a speciality of highlighting filmmakers who have not yet reached the age of 30.
They include France's Matthieu Kassovitz and Xavier Beauvois, Denmark's Lars Von Trier and Canada's Xavier Dolan. It stepped up its mission in 1978 with the creation of the Camera d'Or (Golden Camera) for young filmmakers and which helped launch the careers of America's Jim Jarmusch, Iran's Jafar Panahi and Britain's Steve McQueen.
The festival has also breathed new life into more experienced directors, giving them their first international recognition.
Among the favoured are Belgium's Dardenne brothers, Wong-Kar-wai (China), Michael Haneke (Austria) and the Taviani brothers (Italy).
The Coen brothers, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Canada's David Cronenberg have also become classics on the Croisette.
Some filmmakers have even become festival darlings, with their work regularly selected for the festival: the record goes to Ken Loach, with 17 films.
The chosen ones, when not appearing in competition, are often selected as members or chairpersons, of the jury. The festival, which lists one of its missions as being to "help the development of the film industry in the world" has also supported the emergence of new cinema schools.
During its first edition in 1946 it highlighted the naissant Italian neo-realism, sponsoring "Roma, Villa Aperta" by Roberto Rosselini.
The cinemas of Latin America, Asia, and eastern Europe have also been able to conquer new audiences via this shop window.
"It is the only stage which allows directors from small countries to enter world cinema," Serbian director Emir Kusturica said in 2011.
- The forgotten -
However, Cannes has also been criticised for ignoring some key trends and filmmakers.
While other festivals in Venice and Berlin highlighted France's Jean-Luc Godard, Agnes Varda and Alain Resnais, Cannes brushed aside the New Wave, of which no representative won the Golden Palm.
Several times in competition with films considered to be masterpieces, Britain's Alfred Hitchcock, the Soviet Union's Andrei Tarkovsky, India's Satyajit Ray, Portugal's Manoel de Oliveira, and France's Jacques Tati and Robert Bresson are on the forgotten list as well.
No joy either for Turkey's Elia Kazan, Italy's Pier Paolo Pasolini or Egypt's Youssef Chahine, while US director Stanley Kubrick has never even been selected for the competition.
Some juries have tried to correct flagrant omissions by rewarding certain filmmakers for their careers as a whole. A "Palm of Palms", chosen by directors who had been crowned by the festival, was awarded to Ingmar Bergman in 1997. A recluse in Sweden the master of the seventh art did not come to Cannes to collect the award.
"The Palm of the forgotten" however, goes to women.
Rarely selected for the competition, a woman had by 2026 won just three times. the Golden Palm going to New Zealand's Jane Campion in 1993 for "The Piano".
The festival's selectors have regularly been criticised by feminist organisations for the lack of recognition for women filmmakers.