The prestige of the Cannes film festival in jeopardy

"With Ken Loach taking the Golden Palm and Bruno Dumont the Grand Prix - two radical choices that justly reward innovative and committed artists - the 59th Cannes Film Festival lowered the curtain in style on a lackluster edition," the editorialist writes. This is nothing to crow about, however. "Because the Cannes festival's unique position is in danger. And the threat comes from the US - more precisely, from Toronto, where a festival held in September is in the process of relegating the Croisette to downgraded status. ... The Cannes Film Festival tried to get out of its fix this year by executing a pirouette: devising a programme which, for lack of any big names aside from Almodovar, banked on curiosity and discovery. A mistake that was all the more serious as the films in the running for prizes were not of the same quality as in past years. The showcase window - for that is the purpose Cannes serves - the window onto a varied, European and demanding culture, cracked."   

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