Although originally scheduled to be held in Cannes in 1939, the outbreak of WWII delayed the opening of the first International Film Festival until September 1946 when twenty-one countries presented their films.
Held on the French Riviera, the festival was designed to preview and judge promising films from around the world. Although it has evolved into a pronounced commercial endeavor today, the Cannes Film Festival still gathers the most prominent international film makers.
The official site of the Festival de Cannes states its “mission has remained faithful to its founding purpose: to draw attention and raise the profile of films, with the aim of contributing towards the development of cinema, boosting the film industry worldwide and celebrating cinema at an international level.”