Festival de Cannes 2008

ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT IT, 2008 was a watershed year at the Cannes film festival. Looking ahead, this was Thierry Frémaux’s first year as délégué général, the first time he was listed in the catalogue as the man who put his own signature on the selection. Last year, he was down simply as director artistique, to wit: the festival’s artistic director under the friendly aegis of président Gilles Jacob. Looking back, Gilles Jacob is currently penning his collection of memories as the festival icon over the past 30 years. Knowing Jacob’s unrestrained love for the Festival de Cannes, a spring event he has personally molded into an institution that stands head and shoulders over all other A-category festivals, his memoirs will surely offer insights into how he was able to balance the ideals of auteur cinema with the public’s demand for starlets on the grand staircase and box-office..