Increased attendances, with an interesting array of works from every part of the world, distinguished this year’s festival.

By far the biggest film at the festival was ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, Director Quentin Tarantino shown here with stars Leonardo de Caprio, Bad Pitt and Margo Robbie.  Awarded 9.7 out of 10 on the IMDB  film ratings site. Nominated, it nevertheless did not figure among the winners.

The top prize, the Palme d’Or, was won by PARASITE (8.8 on IMDB), a film by the Korean director Bong Joon Ho. The Grand Prix went to Mati Diop for his Film ATLANTIC. The only British winner was Emily Beecham (Best Actress) for her starring role in LITTLE JOE.

As often, a main talking point being the increasing diversity of platforms bringing the traditional model under increasing pressure. Apart from Netflix there are several major players already in the streaming game or considering joining. This will fracture the market for readily available material with in-house production either a reality or under consideration.