I've been to several international film festivals, including those in Locarno, Switzerland; Dubai; Russia; Berlin; Cannes; Bangkok; and Hong Kong.

To be able to work with people who I have respected and admired, to be a part of something like the Cannes Film Festival, is surreal and brilliant.

My role in 'Slumdog Millionaire' was a cameo, but it did expose me to cinema and took me to Cannes. I then did 'Prague,' which was a very niche film.

At least in America, the narrative is I'm a Cannes favorite. But, in fact, I've had my best experience in Venice, both with the audience and the jury.

The Cannes film festival is about big-budget films but also remarkable films made in different political regimes by film-makers with little resources.

Italy to me is like the mean mother. Whatever I do, it's never good enough. People say I'm the queen of Cannes, but in Italy I get turned down for work.

'Devdas' is the first Hindi commercial film to be seen at Cannes. And 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' is getting a whole lot of appreciation abroad. I'm pleased.

You hear people saying, 'Oh I'm so tired, I've had enough of Cannes.' How can you have enough of Cannes? It's just the best place to be, like a fairytale.

As a director, or just a film fan who wants to enjoy the festival, Cannes is the worst place to be. But it must be a paradise for distributors and importers.

In terms of finding that first international recognition of my work, coming back to Cannes is such a milestone in my life because it began actually with 'Devdas'.

I've been delighted by Cannes and Toronto but I keep saying I don't know how good we're going to be received in America because that's where it's most challenging.

'Slumdog' initiated a chain of events like going to Cannes and being invited to the Cairo Film Festival, which changed my perspective of cinema and of being an actor forever.

If you look at any film fest, the setting gives it colour. Be it Goa, Cannes or even Berlin in the winter, the setting makes these festivals special and gives it a definition.

'The Duellists' won Cannes, but Paramount didn't know how to release a film about two guys in bizarre breeches, waving swords around. I actually think it's a pretty good Western.

When 'Tree of Life' went to Cannes, all the interviewers were asking me about my favorite actors and actresses because I was new to the industry, and they wanted to get to know me.

I love the Cannes Film Festival. From the lavish parties and events to the red carpet attire, this star-studded week-long event is where I get a lot of inspiration for hair and fashion.

When I met Bono at the Cannes Film festival while I was there for the film 'United 93,' he said to me, 'That's a great film, brother. Thank you for your courage in making it.' I plotzed.

I actually know the moment I became known. It was at the Cannes Film Festival, when they showed 'The Virgin Spring.' I walked into that theater as one person, and I walked out as another.

Having my film premiere in Cannes has always been the ultimate dream for me. It is a combination of the elegance of the festival, the setting and the quality of films that premiere there.

The Cannes Film Festival is the biggest, most prestigious film festival in the world. This is where filmmakers are discovered, where futures are made, and the most important films premiered.

I love South By because people are more relaxed here, and people are a little more off guard. They say things and react more freely than Sundance or Cannes. I love the feel of this festival.

You get these horrifying straight-to-video things for very little money, then you go to the Cannes Film Festival, and they got some poster of you, 40 ft. high, in the worst movie in the world.

Cannes is the oldest film festival in the world, and I've long dreamed of having one of my films there in competition. It's a dream that lay dormant for a long time; I stopped believing in it.

Everybody said that a film that funny can't win because normally your Cannes winner will be something more serious. It's not very often that a film that's bordering on comedy has won in Cannes.

The film's success so far involves winning a couple of prizes at Cannes and Sundance, and getting some very nice reviews in newspapers and magazines. That hasn't had a big impact on my life yet.

I didn't really know what to expect. I had been told about the scale of Cannes, but nothing could have prepared me for just how many people would turn out for our photo calls or for the opening ceremony.

I wore Armani Prive to Cannes, and that was incredible. The craftsmanship is something I never understood until I wore it: the structure, the integrity of the fabrics, the colours, how things photograph.

It's a strange thing that we're actors, and we're always playing a character, and then suddenly we're at a place like Cannes, and we're getting photographed as ourselves, and you're like, 'What do you do?'

One day I'm lugging walls back and forth in Louisville, and the next day I'm at Cannes giving interviews next to Ben Kingsley. I'm nowhere near cynical or jaded enough not to be incredibly thrilled by that.

Red carpets are awful. They're like a kind of purgatory - you stand there, and there are cameras flashing everywhere. One of my first red carpets was in Cannes for 'The Great Gatsby,' and I'd never seen anything like it.

I've been to the Met Ball and the Tonys, but Cannes is particularly huge. Every time at these big events, it's just - whoa. Because at the end of the day, I'm a guy from Devonshire who grew up on a farm who loves his dog.

The premiere of Lynne Ramsay's film of 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' at the Cannes film festival provides an apt juncture at which to celebrate the miraculous power - not of film but of fiction. Lo, I have created a monster.

My first job was a commercial for a Swiss insurance company. It was an eight-minute short with a proper story arc, and it ended up getting a spot at Cannes Lions; I was lucky to avoid the commercials where you're their puppet.

Red carpet dressing all depends on the climate. I think richer, deeper colours are more flattering on the body, but the opposite is true if you are in Cannes or St. Tropez where the light makes deep colours look heavy and unflattering.

People come to Cannes just to advertise their films, not with a particular message. But the advantage is that if you go to the festival, you get so much press coverage in three days that it advertises the film for the rest of the year.

Cannes or Oscars is not only to bring happiness and recognition - they protect people like me. The world knows who you are. You can work. You can express. You can help other people. It's not only the star system. It's a symbol of freedom.

Of course, an Oscar nomination would have added considerably to the film's business abroad. But it has already made nearly Rs 150 crore. It has done stupendous business overseas. We did a business of Rs 80 crore when we took 'Devdas' to Cannes.

George Clooney, who is a moron, came here to Cannes and gave a press conference saying, 'Under no circumstances will Trump ever be president. Hillary Clinton will be the next president.' Well, we can't wait to make George Clooney eat his words.

I remember in 1968 when we were in Cannes, in the festival, and we were supposed to be there 10 days, and the second day the festival collapsed because the French, you know, film-makers raised the red flag in the festival and ended the festival.

You see Mexican cinema in festivals throughout the world, and you see Mexican directors getting recognized at Cannes, at the Oscars, in Berlin, but the question is, What is the end result of that in terms of the market? That's where it's lacking.

One year, I went to Cannes with the film 'The Indian Runner' that Sean Penn directed. Everyone else in the film was all the same height, and on the red carpet, when they were taking photos, none of them would stand next to me, and I totally got it.

I wish I had gone to Cannes with a film, but I had gone there for L'Oreal Pakistan. I cannot tell you the people that I was around, from Helen Mirren to Jane Fonda. It was a proud moment on the red carpet when they announced my name and said 'Mahira Khan from Pakistan.'

For some time, I thought being a producer would be a more fulfilling career than being an actor. But then I went to a conference in Cannes with 300 other producers, all desperately chasing finance for their projects... and realized being an actor wasn't so bad after all!

I was asked to go to Cannes to present Amores Perros. And little did I know that this film would be huge. I saw it for the first time in Cannes, and it was the first time I'd seen myself on such a big screen. And it had a huge impact on me - it was the strangest feeling.

It's a simple quality of human nature that people prefer to choose to do things rather than be ordered to do them. In fact, as soon as you tell me I have to do something - give a speech, attend a banquet, go to Cannes - I immediately start looking for ways to avoid doing it.

What bothers me about red carpet, particularly Cannes, is that it's an extremely important festival where stunning films are shown and nothing of that ever comes in papers. It's always celebrities standing with one hand on waist, I don't know who decided that as an attractive position.

We were fortunate enough to shoot 'Alps' - write the script and shoot it - right after 'Dogtooth' premiered in Cannes. So we didn't just sit around and wait to figure out what to do because 'Dogtooth' was successful. We just wanted to make another film fast, so we just went ahead and did it.

If I had not made a film like 'Vaanaprastham,' I would not have been able to go to Cannes or any other festival. I would not have had a chance to act as a Kathakali artiste. I would not have had a chance to be with some of the greatest Kathakali artistes. I consider all this my good fortune.

Cannes is a sort of gladiators' arena, and that's the fun part of it. When you accept to come here to open the festival, you know you are going to be criticised. I have no problem with the fact that I expose myself and the movie, and it's normal that I can disagree with the way some people feel.

For many years I enjoyed the pleasure of cruising on my yacht all summer long and these were my best holidays. In mid-May, we'd start in St Tropez. I'd collect my bikinis from my home there and then we'd go up to Cannes for the Film Festival, on to Monte Carlo for the Grand Prix and then to Italy.

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