Le Palais fills up with talent

that are transforming the world

By becoming a company with a mission, le Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes has set itself the purpose of “The (he)art of sustainable hospitality” by relying on several pillars. All of which are written into its DNA! One of these is to “reveal talents” to the general public and professionals alike.
In a society undergoing profound change, which has incorporated exponential change like a second skin, le Palais thus wants to breathe the air of the times and capture the currents that flow through it.
Since the creation of the “Festival du monde libre” which became the “Festival de Cannes” we have been proudly rolling out the red carpet to artists, entrepreneurial decision-makers, professional organizations and talents from all walks of life who are positively transforming the world.

Human genius without limits

Whether young, experienced, up-and-coming, trailblazers, pioneers, leaders, manual workers, gourmets, geeks, local, confidential or renowned, at le Palais des Festivals et des Congrès and the city of Cannes, we love ALL talents.

It’s even one of the places in France where the most of them can express themselves throughout the year through festivals, events and trade shows that cover a vast array of what the human genius is capable of producing.

We’re thinking of cinema, music, theater, health, advertising design, the art of enchanting the sky with fireworks, the gift of launching major sustainable real estate projects or making board games, for example…

It’s no cliché, Cannes and its Palais are adepts of eclecticism!

A Palm

to fly away

In addition to showcasing all these talents, le Palais is helping to reward them in the eyes of the world! How? Thanks to famous distinctions that bring fame to those who receive them, but also to le salons or festivals that award them. The best-known of these, star among stars, remains, of course, the Palme d’Or, from the Festival de Cannes. This prize is over 76 years old and still as seminal as ever.

Nothing but putting down the suitcase on the Festival’s Côte d’Azur, filmmakers blossom. We remember in particular directors Quentin Tarantino or Xavier Dolan whose fame definitely took off on la Croisette. But, equally, all those who present, for the first time in what are inevitably intense and moving moments, their work created sometimes on the other side of the world.

All events

Cannes

Where talent shines

Thierry Frémaux

General Manager of the Cannes Film Festival

How logical! This annual landing of talent on the red carpet remains one of the Festival's (and le Palais's) priority missions, confirms Thierry Frémaux, General Manager of the Cannes Film Festival. And, as he explains, this means discovering "young authors, young directors and new countries, too, because this geographical expansion is in keeping with the universal perspective that underpinned the Festival's creation in 1939 and 1946."

Portrait of Thierry Frémaux

The talent ball

at Festivals

In addition to the Festival de Cannes, the revelation of talent is achieved through major events, true global references, organized within le Palais.

The list is imposing. Let’s mention, among others, the NRJ Music Awards for music, the MIPTV for television production or the very dynamic Cannesseries whose president Fleur Pellerin is well aware of having a role to play in bringing out talent.

Fleur Pellerin

“We usually find out after the fact, when they’re finally recognized,” she confides. Like Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who came (Editor’s note: in 2018) to present Killing Eve and also received an award. Then she did Fleabag (comedy series), became extremely famous. She took part in the James Bond screenplay. For me, she’s a very telling example.”

Discover Fleur Pélerin’s portrait

President of Cannesseries

In the pros too

Let’s move away (temporarily) from the realm of culture. We’re now heading for the trade shows, conventions and corporate conventions taking place at le Palais. More and more of them, too, are showcasing their established or up-and-coming stars, be they entrepreneurs, concepts or companies. All these -distinguished- talents have one thing in common: they stand out for their boldness and a certain amount of time ahead of the rest of the world.

This is, in particular, the case with the MIPIM Awards, which celebrate real estate projects at the forefront in terms of sustainability and commitment to serving communities and the planet. Cannes Lions also presents much-anticipated awards in the world of advertising. The world of events is not to be outdone. Every year, it hands out its prestigious awards thanks to the Heavent Meetings.

Proof that everything’s moving (for real), the notions of inclusion and diversity are taking to the stage, everywhere, in the image of the MIPCOM featuring industry experts and top talent.

To what end? To demonstrate, no more, no less, that the 21st century is becoming aware of the positive and inescapable impact of these values in the construction of society.

The best skills at le Palais reveal

Le Palais, a talent spotlight

As an organizer, le Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes is no slouch when it comes to bringing a colorful array of talent to the limelight. In order to achieve this, it relies on its cultural events program, which offers over 80 shows a year.

Some distinctions “made in” Palais, aimed at bringing out or installing the greatest talents in the landscape, are now part of custom and practice. Such is the case with the Vestale d’or of the Cannes Pyrotechnic Art Festival, highly prized because it opens doors internationally. There’s also the As d’Or from le Festival International des Jeux. This label of quality gives publishers the virtual certainty of a fine sales success on the shelves.

More recently, the Festival des Jeunes Talents du Suquet enables the general public to discover young classical music prodigies destined, for some of them, to achieve a great career.

Those special moments...

At Cannes, the appearances of these talents, personalities, stars or hopefuls can seem fleeting. A few minutes, a few hours, an appearance on the red carpet… Sometimes more. Sometimes less. And yet, their arrival sometimes provides thrills that remain engraved, forever, in the collective memory.

Who doesn’t remember, for example, that cult moment when Italian director Roberto Benigni prostrates himself at the feet of jury president Martin Scorsese as he receives the Grand Prix du Jury at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival…

Intense moments, there are plenty of them at Cannes!!

Roberto Benigni Cannes Festival 1988@traverso

From the audience's hands to their feet!

It is said that the hand is man’s own, that it symbolizes his ingenuity, freedom and infinite possibilities…

In Cannes, the hand quite simply celebrates talent, in a concrete testimony to be discovered as you stroll along! On the Parvis de la Croisette, around le Palais, a Chemin des Etoiles pays tribute to international film stars in the style of Los Angeles’ Walk of Fame.

The handprints and signatures of almost 450 actors and directors feature prominently, including those of Michael Douglas, Sophia Loren, Jack Nicholson, Catherine Deneuve and Sarah Michelle Gellar. And every year, the cast gets bigger. The hands of talent are timeless.

Empreintes De Stars Palais Des Festivals Et Des Congres

The Talent Wall

It’s an indelible reminder, on a daily basis, of the permanent commitment to all the talent that passes through Cannes! Since 2022, on the occasion of the 75th Cannes Film Festival, le Palais has been hosting, in its building, an original “talent expression wall”.

Concretely, major company bosses, artists or young entrepreneurs, are invited to leave a testimony of their visit making a word, a drawing, a signature or a symbol of their choice on a black composite wooden tablet. Everyone is free to create and express themselves as they wish. These supports, of different sizes and engraved with the Cannes logo, are then varnished and assembled into a large frieze in the manner of a dry-stone wall.

The “wall” accompanies splendid photos of stars staged in corridors. At le Palais, we never forget talent and give it every freedom to express itself.

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