Intro
The world's most glamorous festival needs a cool calling card, and throughout the years the Cannes Film Festival has produced some downright beautiful official posters.
This year, Ingrid Bergman is the official face of the fest in a beguiling black-and-white shot. Join us for a rundown of the most artful, striking and downright psychedelic posters Cannes has ever had. Let's start at the beginning...
1946
The poster for the very first festival features an illustration by Leblanc which aptly sums up the atmosphere of sun and elegant fun. Note the entwining palms.
The desert island may not be entirely geographically accurate, but the fancy costuming has endured to this day.
1962
A.M. Rodicq's lovely combination of shooting stars, deep blues and a smiling woman is beautiful and a direct sequel to the 1961 poster (also by Rodicq) which also featured stars.
1966
20 years on, and this is the first Cannes poster to take a purely typographical approach, designed by Ferracci. We love the colours and the playful number, which celebrates the festivals two decades with a bit of pizzazz.
1972
The '70s: a great decade for film and perhaps the best decade for Cannes poster design. This combines film, freedom and the sea to represent all of the festival's attractions.
And there's a seagull with film for wings. What's not to love.
1974
Halfway through the '70s and things get psychedelic! This illustration by Georges Lacroix, representing the viewer's imagination being swept away by cinema, marks a period of increasingly abstract imagery.
1975
Siudmak was to design the next three posters, each increasingly more prog rock than the last but this initial design is the pick of the bunch.
1979
Things get super abstract with this gorgeous orange and blue design by Folon. Is it a man in a hat? A chair? A cinema screen? Who knows, but it's ruddy lovely.
1992
A simple idea wonderfully executed. Marlene Dietrich's portrait by Don English hints at both the glamour and the wonder of the festival.
Elegant, classy portraits go on to become a staple of the fest's posters.
2007
The festival celebrated 60 years of its history by bringing together a cluster of stars (Samuel L. Jackson, Pedro Almodovar, Juliette Binoche and Bruce Willis amongst them) to leap in the air, in homage to Russian photographer Philippe Halsman.
2011
Faye Dunaway captured by Jerry Schatzberg in 1970 stars in this stunning monochrome print by the H5 design agency. The stylised 64 fits perfectly with the cool, modernist vibes.
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