CANNES, France, May 15 -- The 67th Festival de Cannes, or the Cannes Film Festival, entered the second day on Thursday in the southern French sea resort of Cannes. The following is a brief introduction to the annual international film festival.

Initiated by former French Minister for National Education and Fine Arts Jean Zay, the Cannes Film Festival was created to rival the Venice Film Festival.

Originally planned to be launched in Cannes in 1939, the first edition of the Festival was suspended due to the outbreak of World War II. It was not until over a year after the end of the war that the first version finally took place on Sept. 20, 1946.

The film gala was held every September, except in 1948 and 1950, and then every May from 1952 onwards.

Awarded for the first time in 1955, the Palme d'or replaced the Grand Prix, which had been awarded to the best film in competition until then.

In the 1960s, two independent selections were created in parallel to the Official Selection, with the Semaine Internationale de la Critique (the International Critics' Week) in 1962 and the Directors' Fortnight in 1969.

Before 1972, the films competed in the selection were chosen by their country of origin. Since 1972, the Festival has decided to choose by itself the films that would feature in the Official Selection.

In 1978, Gilles Jacob, who was appointed General Delegate that year, created the Un Certain Regard selection and the Camera d'or prize, which awards the best first film presented in any of the selections.

In 1998, Jacob created the Cinefondation, a selection for short and medium-length films produced by film schools from all over the world.

Since 2004, some heritage films, used to be screened as thematic retrospectives, have been chosen to present at Cannes Classics, a selection for restored copies that tributes to filmmaking and documentaries about cinema.

In the Competition, the most prestigious award at the Cannes Film Festival is the Palme d'Or ("Golden Palm") for the best film. The awards include:

Palme d'Or - Golden Palm, for the best film;

Grand Prix - Grand Prize of the Festival;

Prix du Jury - Jury Prize;

Palme d'Or du court metrage - Best Short Film;

Prix d'interpretation feminine - Best Actress;

Prix d'interpretation masculine - Best Actor;

Prix de la mise en scene - Best Director;

Prix du scenario - Best Screenplay.

There are also awards in other selections:

Prix Un Certain Regard - Young talent, innovative and audacious works;

Cinefondation prizes - Student films;

Camera d'Or - Best first feature film.