Ces années-là, the anniversary book © DR
To mark its 70th anniversary, the Festival has published "Ces années-là",
the story of the Festival in the words of film critics from all four corners of the globe.
Under the direction of Thierry Frémaux. Preface by Pierre Lescure. Available from 10 May 2017, published by Stock.
70 festivals, 70 Palmes d’or, 70 selections, 70 presidents and… 70 stories rewinding the film of all those ceremonies and glorious years, written by some of the most enlightened and meticulous critics, not only from France but also America, Italy, Russia, India, Mexico and Turkey, superbly capturing the abundant diversity of Cannes, a town that opens its arms for a short time each year to a dream that begins afresh with each new season.
"Ces années-là" tells the story of an adventure that began in 1939 against a backdrop of world war and was rehabilitated in 1946 as a way of consigning the horrors to oblivion. The melancholic and captivating story of an institution which, despite its occasional wayward moves and biases, has never failed in its primary mission: to reveal. A story of masters (Rossellini, Truffaut, Loach, Coppola, Wajda, Wenders, Lynch and Tarantino) and masterpieces (The Leopard, La Dolce Vita, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Blow up, Taxi Driver, Paris Texas, Underground, The Tree of Life). But also an idea, a vision of film that's constantly renewed, that pushes back the limits, and marches ever onwards.
The journalists selected by Thierry Frémaux, General Director of the Festival, testify to the permanence of this obsession: Georges Simenon as president of the Jury, the upheaval of May 1969, the Nazi salute by Maurice Pialat; the uncertain consecration of Oncle Boonmee, the committed stance of The Class or Fahrenheit 9/11, but above all, all those shared secrets and moments of happiness.
