Triumph Of Our Storytellers

Union I&B minister underlines the significance of India being the Country of Honour at Cannes

- Anurag Singh Thakur

The silent shores of the French Riviera are all set to host the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. As the focus country at the Opening Night of ‘Marché du Film’ this year, India intends to give the global audience a flavour of the country’s cinematic excellence, technological prowess, rich culture, and illustrious heritage of storytelling.

India and France are also marking the 75th year of their diplomatic relations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris and the bilateral with President Emmanuel Macron take even more significance in this context. It is against this significant diplomatic backdrop that India has been chosen as the first ‘Country of Honour’ at the Marché du Film.

‘Festival de Cannes’ has played a significant role in strengthening IndoFrench relations since its inception. The stepping stone was laid by bestowing the Palme d’Or to the prolific Indian filmmaker Chetan Anand’s film Neecha Nagar in 1946 and a decade later in 1956, Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali won the Best Human Document award. In the year 2013, Amitabh Bachchan was invited to open the festival and over the years numerous members of Indian cinema have served on the Cannes Jury.

India’s presence at Cannes this year holds significance in many ways. It will be for the first time that our red carpet lineup captures the diversity of our cinematic excellence not only in terms of representation of actors and filmmakers from various languages and regions but also on OTT platforms, with a strong presence of music composers and a folk artist who have enthralled audiences both young and old.