What do Cannes first-timers get wrong?

Here is a 36-page guide I wrote for Raindance on how to best navigate the Cannes Film Festival and Marché du Film. Download your free copy below:Cannes Confidential6.61MB ∙ PDF fileDownloadThe Raindance Guide to Navigating the Cannes Film Festival and Marché du FilmDownloadDownloadEvery spring, around this time, my inbox develops a particular shape.Somebody emails to ask which badge they need. Somebody else emails to say they’ve been told Cannes tickets are ‘a lottery’ and is that really true? A first-time producer wants to know if they should bring business cards or a link. A publicist is panicking about the new dress code. And at least one person, every single year, asks me what shoes to wear.The 79th Festival de Cannes opens on 12 May 2026, with the Marché du Film running 12 to 20 May. Around 15,000 market professionals from 140 countries will be there, and at least a third of them will be first-timers.I’ve pulled together the questions I actually get asked, the ones people don’t…