Where to Watch the Cannes Film Festival Online

The 64th installment of the Cannes Film Festival commenced on May 11, 2011 and concludes on May 22, 2011. Between those dates, President of the Festvial Jury, Robert De Niro and his fellow jurors (who make all the decisions on which films will and won’t screen in Southern France’s resort town) will preside over the festival’s glitz, glamour and screenings and award one director the prestigious Palme d’Or.

You can catch trailers from the flicks and HP-sponsored snippets of the festivities at the Festival de Cannes website, but you can’t watch a whole lot else. Apparently, whatever online video experience Robert De Niro’s developed over a few years of collaboration between his own Tribeca Film Festival and YouTube was lost in translation when he accepted the Jury President position at Cannes. You can watch some official selections from the festival on the web, just not a lot.

The National Film Board of Canada partnered with the Short Film Corrner at Cannes for its 7th Annual Online Film Competition. The NFB selected its top 10 Short Film Corner favorite to screen on its YouTube channel. Viewers are encouraged to watch and vote for their top choices with a thumbs up. The winner with the most thumbs pointed skyward will be announced on the channel and at Cannes on May 19.

The NFB made their selections to encompass an “eclectic mix of languages and genres,” so unless you speak Danish, you won’t be able to understand them all. Though if you do speak Danish, please let me know what’s going on in a Bear’s Life. Blondes and abominable snowmen are two of my favorite things.