Cannes Film Festival (1939)

Cannes Film Festival (1939) The 1939 Cannes Film Festival was the inaugural edition of the Cannes Film Festival planned for Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, in September 1939; it was cancelled at the outbreak of World War II after a program announced in July 1939. The cancellation intersected with events involving the French Third Republic, the British government, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, and the League of Nations diplomatic environment, disrupting anticipated participation from studios such as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, and filmmakers including Jean Renoir and Fritz Lang.

Background and Origins

The festival's creation followed initiatives by the French National Popular Front cultural apparatus and figures from the Ministry of Public Instruction and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who responded to the politicization of the Venice International Film Festival under Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Italy regime. Key proponents included municipal officers of Cannes and cultural administrators tied to the Organisation internationale de coopération intellectuelle, with logistical support expected from institutions like the Comédie-Française and film bodies associated with Cinémathèque Française. Early planning referenced international precedents such as the Berlin International Film Festival initiatives and drawing on the network of distributors like Gaumont and Pathé, alongside Hollywood exhibitors connected to United Artists.

Organisation and Selection

Organisers established committees that drew members from the French Academy of Fine Arts, regional councils of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and representatives of national film institutes including the British Film Institute, the Deutsche Filmakademie-era bodies, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association antecedents. A provisional jury roster, influenced by cultural diplomacy from the United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, and Italy, was planned to adjudicate prizes inspired by the Venice Biennale awards system and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences model. Selection criteria engaged distributors such as Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, RKO Radio Pictures, and independent producers including Alexander Korda, who submitted features via national embassies and film bureaus tied to the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom) and the Office National du Cinéma (France).

Planned Program and Films

The announced program in July 1939 listed international entries spanning Europe, North America, and Latin America, with anticipated screenings at the Palais des Festivals site and venues on the Croisette. Titles included works by directors like Jean Renoir (whose film circuits involved La Grande Illusion circulation), Fritz Lang (whose career intersected with UFA and Paramount Pictures), Alfred Hitchcock (linked to British International Pictures), John Ford of Argosy Films, and Sergei Eisenstein-related retrospectives. Studio submissions from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures were to be complemented by Continental offerings from Czechoslovak and Polish cinema, and Latin entries from distributors allied with Argentina’s film houses. Special sections were to honour silent cinema with references to Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and archives such as the International Federation of Film Archives. Parallel cultural programming listed symposiums involving critics from Cahiers du Cinéma precursors, art historians from the Louvre, and composers associated with Le Corbusier-era modernism.

Cancellation and Immediate Aftermath

On 1 September 1939, the Invasion of Poland precipitated declarations of war by the United Kingdom and France against Germany, prompting the municipal and national authorities to cancel the festival; the official suspension followed emergency measures coordinated with the Préfecture des Alpes-Maritimes and communications with diplomatic missions from Washington, D.C., Moscow, and Rome. Many delegations, including personnel from MGM, Gaumont, and cultural attaches from the Embassy of the United States, Paris and the German Embassy, Paris, evacuated. Films already en route were redirected to archives under the stewardship of institutions like the Cinémathèque Française and private collections held by distributors such as Pathé and Gaumont, while several filmmakers returned to studios in Hollywood, London, and Moscow as wartime mobilization affected production schedules.

Legacy and Historical Significance

Although cancelled, the 1939 festival shaped postwar cultural policy and the eventual establishment of the first realized Cannes Festival in 1946; debates during the cancellation informed discussions at the Bretton Woods Conference-era cultural diplomacy and influenced the restructuring of film festivals to avoid political co-optation seen at the Venice International Film Festival under Mussolini. The episode is cited in studies of transnational film circulation involving entities like United Artists, International Federation of Film Producers Associations, and archival institutions including the British Film Institute and Cinémathèque Française. The 1939 cancellation remains a touchstone in histories of European cinema, Hollywood relations with Europe, and the politics of cultural festivals during crises involving states such as France, United Kingdom, Germany, and Soviet Union; it presaged how film festivals would be leveraged in Cold War cultural contests involving bodies like the UNESCO and the Council of Europe.

Category:Film festivals in France Category:1939 in film Category:Cancelled events