As Cannes Winds Down, Zlin Revs Up

As the Cannes Film Festival winds down and media professionals leave en masse for home (if their airplanes are not delayed by volcanic ash or French airline strikes), 500 miles to the northeast in the Czech Republic, the Zlin Film Festival is revving up for its 50th anniversary celebrations that begin next weekend. In the world of film festivals, the celebration of film never seems to end.

The Zlin Film Festival, one of the oldest film events in the world, has been planning its 50th anniversary celebrations for a whole year and has already revealed a number of special guests and events. The run-up to the Festival has featured art exhibitions in Berlin, London and New York as well as in the capital of the Czech Republic in Prague. However, the culmination begins on Sunday, May 30 and lasts until Sunday, June 6, with a mix of film premieres, special events, international guests, art exhibitions, a professional conference, a mini-festival of the best in cinema and television advertising and numerous social networking events.

This year, the Zlin Film Festival, the largest devoted to works specifically produced for the children and youth market, looks both forward and to the past. Aside from its main international competition, the Festival will showcase contemporary and classic films of the Czech cinema as well as a tribute to the 1940 edition of the "Zliennale" also known as "Film Harvest", one of the first international showcases of cinema that was held 70 years ago.

This blog site will cover all the events and the excitement of this year's Festivities, as will the Festival's official website: www.zlinfest.cz. The Cannes excitement may be winding down but it is just revving up in Zlin, and we will be there to  bring it all to you.

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor