On May 23, 2002, the world woke up to a few brown faces on the carpet of the Festival de Cannes, commonly known as Cannes. Miss World 1994 and the world's most beautiful woman, Aishwarya Rai, made her debut on the 55th red carpet along with superstar Shah Rukh Khan and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali for the screening of their film, ‘Devdas’. Aishwarya wore a mustard-yellow saree, while Shah Rukh played it safe but added oomph on the carpet with his black suit and a bow tie.

Since then, there's been no turning back for Aishwarya Rai. If Priyanka Chopra introduced the Met Gala to India, Aishwarya Rai originally introduced Cannes to India. Now, as a jury member, every year, the world awaits her red carpet appearance with bated breath. Over the years, several Indians appeared on the red carpet, but apart from their names, what do we know about Cannes?

Situated on the gazing beaches of the South of France, the Festival de Cannes is not merely a film festival but an institution. A cultural thermometer, a catwalk, a political stage, and an art haven, Cannes is about screening and celebrating, analysing, worshipping and selling cinema. The palm-covered promenade of Cannes, France, is the backdrop for the instant recognition of international film benchmarks that the festival has become. It is where an indie Director from India can rub shoulders with Hollywood royalty, and one screening can determine a film's fate worldwide.

The Festival de Cannes is not a place—it is a statement. It is a statement that cinema is not simply content but an art form, that storytelling matters, and that watching a film in a dark room full of strangers can still mean something.

This article provides all the juicy details of the festival in one place, so you know that it's not just about the red carpet; it's so much more.

Established to Counter a Fascist Regime

Cannes had a dramatic beginning. In the late 1930s, the only major international film competition at the time was the Venice Film Festival, which was subjected to the growing influence of Mussolini's fascist regime. Frustrated by this political influence, French officials commissioned by Minister of Education and Fine Arts Jean Zay wanted to start a new film festival to promote artistic expression and avoid government control. This was the beginning of Cannes.
Although it was established on 31 August 1939, and the first festival was scheduled for September 1939, it was postponed due to World War II. The concept was on hold, but not gone forever. In 1946, the first festival was born, and twenty-one countries participated. The initial festival was a great success despite technical issues and a lack of supplies from the war. The festival was still impressive enough to introduce what, over time, would develop into a cinema institution to the world.

Inside the Glitz: How Celebrities Are Invited to the Cannes Film Festival

Celebrities attend the Festival de Cannes through a mix of certified selections, sponsorship collaborations, film premieres, and guest lists. Actors, directors, and producers are generally part of the cast or crew of films selected to participate in competitions or are featured in the Festival’s special screenings. Other attendees will be sponsored by luxury brands like L’Oréal Paris, Chopard, and Dior, who will serve as sponsors and invite guests to walk the red carpet, turning the Cannes Festival into a fashion event.

Others are invited via streaming platforms like Netflix, production companies, and global PR agencies. Many celebrities will just receive the invitation, whereas some will receive passes as they will be accredited. There may even be press members who will pay to attend or accept the invitation via brand partnerships. Of course, Cannes accreditation is provided only to industry professionals, journalists and film students, except for the public looking to book for attendance in the Cannes Cinephiles section. Additionally, red carpets are limited to invitations and are executed like clockwork.

The Festival's official media partner is Brut, a digital-first news outlet that replaced Canal+ in 2022. Brut generates real-time, behind-the-scenes content, interviews, and live broadcasts intended for a younger, worldwide demographic, greatly broadening the Festival's digital reach. France Télévisions is also working as a media partner with the festival. This ecosystem of curated partnerships ensures that Cannes remains both a prestigious film festival and a media-driven global cultural event.

Cannes and India

India's connection to Cannes is long-standing. In the first Cannes Festival, held in 1946, the Grand Prix was awarded to Chetan Anand's film 'Neecha Nagar' (lowly city). Unfortunately, the film never had an Indian release, though it did get performed on Doordarshan in the 1980s. Since those early years, Indian cinema has long appeared at the festival, formally and informally, both on and off the Palme d'Or competition slate.

In particular, the contribution of Indian celebrities (Aishwarya Rai, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Payal Kapadia, Anurag Kashyap, etc.) in recent years has enhanced the festival. Indian films have received international attention, with hits like Gangs of Wasseypur, Masaan and The Lunchbox premiering or receiving prime placements at Cannes and generating global momentum.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, a Cannes veteran, is once again expected to grace the red carpet as a long-standing ambassador for L’Oréal Paris, continuing her two-decade association with the festival. In 2003, she made history, becoming the first Indian actor to be part of the Cannes Jury.

Sharmila Tagore is returning to Cannes to celebrate the restored screening of Aranyer Din Ratri, a 1970 classic by Satyajit Ray. The film, part of the Cannes Classics section, will be shown in its newly restored version. Tagore, who served on the Cannes jury in 2009, adds a touch of legacy to this year’s red carpet.

Guneet Monga, a renowned producer, has launched a Cannes Producers' Scholarship under Women in Film India. The scholarship aims to connect mid-career Indian women producers with global industry leaders, fostering visibility and mentorship. Producers Dimpy Agrawal, Rabia Chopra, Tillotama Shome, and Rucha Pathak joined Monga at the announcement.

Filmmaker Payal Kapadia, who made headlines last year with her Palme d’Or–winning film, is back at Cannes — this time on the other side of the table. She has been invited to serve as the leading competition jury member.

Cannes’ Relevance: Enduring Power of Storytelling in a Digital World

In a world of content saturation and diminished attention spans, Cannes is a beacon of what cinema should aspire to be: timeless, audacious, and utterly human. It is one of the last bastions where art still matters more than dollars, where filmmakers from the Global South can stand next to auteurs from Europe or North America and be judged not on their budgets but on their vision.

Cannes is a place of discovery, having launched or given new lives to many now-classic directors: Lars von Trier, Bong Joon-ho, Pedro Almodóvar, and Jane Campion, just to name a few. It embraces risk, rewards fearless storytelling, and defends the theatrical experience.

Cannes continues to elevate the director's gaze, the actor's presence, the screenwriter's voice, and the cinematographer's eye against a tidal wave of streaming services, algorithmic content, and AI-generated stories.

The complexities of cinema likewise run through Cannes—where glamour and grit coexist, commerce and art find each other, elitism is both possible and stylised, and inclusion is not just favorable—it is essential to the overall meaning of the festival—and will continue to be relevant, even crucial, for human beings as long as storytelling remains rooted in our collective imagination.

Cannes Film Market: Marché du Film

The Festival de Cannes includes a film market - the Marché du Film - featuring films in a sales overview. It is an international marketplace for all film industry professionals to conduct business and develop new leads. The Marché has been around since 1959, and it has become a relevant endeavour, involving buyers, sellers, and many other film industry professionals to connect, shop, and make a revenue. The most significant and central player is the Marché, the world's largest film market, held in conjunction with the Festival de Cannes in France annually.

Over 14,000 film professionals from 120+ countries attend it each year. It evolved from informal business meetings into a structured marketplace for film production, distribution, sales, sales agents, and finance, requiring participants (buyers and sellers) to come together and buy and sell their films in all formats and categories.

The market is hosted in the Palais des Festivals and the Village International (the Market), where screening rooms, booths, pavilions, pitch sessions and primary networking events occur. The event promotes about 4,000 films and projects, with an estimated annual turnover of about $600 million to $1 billion. Event tools also include Cinando, its own networking and content platform, and The Guide (a directory of participants), allowing professional connections to happen easily.

The Marché has extended to initiatives such as Goes to Cannes, Frontières Platform, and Cannes Docs, which benefit new and emerging filmmakers and various stories. It is more than a marketplace or conference; it is critical to the ecosystem that reflects global industry trends, promotes international co-productions, and reflects the changing trends shaping cinema's future. While there is a red carpet and glamour in Cannes, the business of film exists!

Dress Rules: No Nudity Clause & More

Although nudity was never explicitly encouraged at the festival, Cannes has updated its dress code: "Nudity is prohibited on the red carpet, and in any area of the festival."

While no shirt - no service is a standard policy everywhere from Los Angeles to Sussex, the update has garnered much attention given the recent trend of sheer and "nude dresses" like Bianca Censori's risqué outfit at this year's Grammys.

Asked for clarity on the policy, Cannes press officers said, "The festival made explicit in its charter certain rules that have long been in effect. The aim is not to regulate attire per se, but to prohibit full nudity on the red carpet, following the institutional framework of the event and French law."

Cannes also notes on its website that “voluminous dresses, particularly those with a large train, which impede the proper flow of traffic of guests and negatively impact seating in the theater, are prohibited.”

For evening premieres, a black tie and evening wear dress code applies at the Grand Théâtre Lumière in the Palais. The festival security officials, although not in recent years, have taken action by turning women away for not wearing heels. As director Thierry Frémaux called this "grotesque” in 2018, Cannes also prohibited selfies for all guests. Nonetheless, A-listers have been known to sneak a photo or two on the steps of the Palais.

Cannes and Controversies

Cannes is often the site of political, cultural, and social discourse. The festival's prominence has made it a platform for protest and provocation.

In 1968, in support of the nationwide student and worker unrest, directors François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard ended the festival in its middle. More recently, the festival has also been criticised for gender inequity since so few women directors from the past 70 years have won the Palme d'Or, and male directors continue to dominate the competition lineup. Cannes has made aspirational commitments to inclusivity, with slow results.

The #MeToo movement directly affected Cannes by changing the conversation around power, consent, and accountability in cinema. Cannes has made gestures toward establishing a safer and more inclusive space, but is still negotiating a manner of consistent glamour and responsibility.

Then there was the Netflix issue. In 2018, Cannes ruled that all competing films would have to be commercially exhibited in France, meaning there would be no room for Netflix. This started a broader\ debate about the future of cinema and distribution and the insurgence of streaming, which is still ongoing.

Pandemic and Cannes’ Resilience

The Festival de Cannes was cancelled in 2020 for the first time since WWII due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the festival adapted quickly, organising virtual screenings and smaller events. In 2021, the Festival de Cannes returned in a revised format, a reminder of the strength of cinema and filmmakers worldwide.

Although the disruption was unfortunate, it allowed Cannes to meet the digital age. Hybrid festivals, streaming access, and virtual participation are future discussion areas for this institution.