As summer comes around the corner, many A-list events are held in close succession across the nation. From the Met Gala in New York to Coachella in the California desert, celebrities have had their fair share in the spotlight lately. The Cannes Film Festival, hosted at The Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France, is not only unique for its location, but its tradition of celebrating independent filmmakers. Taking place from May 17 to May 28, the Cannes Film Festival will host an array of celebrities as the most prestigious and publicized film festival in the world. 

While a lot of the focus around the festival revolves around the attending actresses and models, it draws attention to a good cause. Most people, including myself, have not heard of the films debuting on screen this year. Top picks at the festival such as “Holy Spider,” directed by Ali Abbasi, and “Forever Young,” directed by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, seem to fly over the heads of the everyday citizen. To make my point, more of the attention to Cannes should be centered around the films themselves. Titles like “Holy Spider” pique my interest, and rightfully so. This film is a 2022 internationally co-produced Persian-language crime thriller film based on the true story of Saeed Hanaei. Personally, I would love to hear more about “Holy Spider” in the news and credit the selected few that made it so far as Cannes. 

As another year wraps up at Cannes, those who take interest in the occasion should visit The films of the Official Selection 2022 – Festival de Cannes to see this year’s top choices. Even though independent implies smaller-budget, lesser-known films, these directors can often offer stories you don’t see in your local movie theater.