Culture is a big book in which every nation writes something of its own during the course of time.

Film has become a universal language expressing and revealing major ideas, dominant problems, progresses or regresses of the century. Film festivals unite all nations around one theme and contribute to the spreading of that language.

A film festival is an annually held, organized ceremony that aims at presenting new accomplishments in the history of cinematography of both national and international production. Here I am offering you to take a look at several European movie festivals which enjoy not only national but also international fame and appraisal.

Firstly let’s travel to France, the location of arguably the most popular film festival: the Cannes Film Festival. When the French Minister of National Education decided to found a film festival in France, he probably did not suspect that the Cannes Film Festival, founded in 1946, would occupy a leading and influential place in the film industry. The Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the town of Cannes, hosts the festival annually. A great number of films are screened. The queen of the festival is the Golden Palm: the highest prize awarded to the best films. The Golden Palm gives the green light to new films and makes them the center of worldwide attention.

Our next destination is Berlin, Germany and the Berlin International Film Festival, also called the Berlinale: one of the world’s prestigious film festivals and a universal celebration. Founded in 1951, the annual festival invites thousands of film-lovers to give tribute to new pictures. Art, glamor, leisure, pleasure and business mingle at the Berlinale. The top prizes of the festival are the Golden Bear and Silver Bear. These prizes have a worldwide appraisal and can open many doors for fledgling filmmakers.

Then there is the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is an annually celebrated international ceremony founded by the finance minister Giuseppe Volpi. It is a festival that reveals new talents, providing them with international fame. The Palazzo del Cinema attracts paparazzi, journalists, celebrities and filmmakers annually. The best film takes the top prize: the Golden Lion, or the Leone d’Oro.

The last stop is the Moscow International Film Festival, one of the oldest and celebrated film festivals. The main prize, the “Golden George” is awarded for the best film.