FILM FESTIVAL AT CANNES

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28263, 29 April 1957, Page 3

FILM FESTIVAL AT CANNES

16 Judges To See 80 Entries

(N.Z. Press Association Copyright) (Rec. 8 p.m.) CANNES, April 27. Film actors and actresses, producers, and directors from more than 30 countries flocked to the French Riviera resort of Cannes at the week-end for one of the biggest “prestige” events of the cinema world—the tenth Cannes International Film Festival. The two best full-length feature and documentary films shown at the festival will be awarded solid gold palm leaves, each worth £■soo. But the prize money, in terms of publicity and box-office receipts, will run into millions of dollars. The 16 judges—among them the British director, Michael Powell, the French author, Jean Cocteau, and the American director— George Stevens —will watch about 80 entries, equal to some 120 miles of film, in a 2000-seat luxury cinema overlooking the Mediterranean. Britain has entered “Yangtse Incident” (the story of the British gunboat. Amethyst, which ran the gauntlet of Chinese artillery down the Yangtse river during the Chinese civil war) and the ‘History of the Cinema.” From the United States comes “Funny Face,” a comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire, and Russia is showing “Sorok Pervyi” and “Don Quixote.” Last year, France carried off the top awards with “World of Silence,” Commander Yves Cousteau’s colour study of underwater life, and “Red Balloon,” the story of a small boy’s adventures with a toy balloon in the streets of Paris.