A friend of mine who is engaged in the British film industry, had a great experience in the Cannes Film Festivals. We have all seen the glamourous side of the Cannes Film Festival, but she informed me of the real purpose of CFF-to meet different business associates for the preparation and promotion of a film.
 
This year, there have been more producers because films are going back into action. In the current economic climate of a recession, films are doing well since they are the cheapest form of entertainment. Thus there were more producers who had ambitious and creative projects to launch.
 
There were different Pavillions for different countries. These were Marquees near the beach set up for the viewing of films of that country's origin and there were events for film companies to meet various directors and actors. Everything was free in the British Pavilliion where she was provided with free usage of internet and snacks. However the American Pavillion charged for these services, because they didn't belong to the EU and the focus of this film festival being located in Cannes is to promote the EU film industry. My friend especially noticed that the UK team were highly publicized and British actors were advertised a lot on the streets in Cannes.
 
Many celebrities were present in the CFF. This included Mick Jagger, Cheryl Cole, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Hudson, Woody Allen, Eva Longoria, Helen Mirren, Russell Crowe, Salma Hayek, Cate Blanchett, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and many more. The biggest, most star-studded event was the premiere of 'Robin Hood', where nearly all the big names of Hollywood and the British film industry strutted the red carpet. The jury panel which chose the winners for the Cannes Film Festival awards consisted of  Shekhar Kapur, Emmanuel Carrere, Victor Erice, Benicio Del Toro, Alexandre Desplat, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, president Tim Burton, Kate Beckinsale and Alberto Barbera. The award for best dressed went to Kate Beckinsdale who made British fashion proud as she looked stunning in three beautiful gowns. 
 
The Cannes Film Festival was an extravagent event which had lots going on, and for my friend, was a tiring one. Unfortunately, you need to be a recognised person in the film industry in order to go to CFF, otherwise who would've stopped us from organising a school trip to CFF? I would've loved to go!