While the glamorous red carpet and the race for the prestigious Palme d’Or dominate public perception, that’s not why most people travel to the Cannes Film Festival. In fact, in the words of Guneet Monga, Cannes is “like the stock exchange of global cinema.”

At the heart of this film fest is the Marché du Film, the business arm of the Festival de Cannes, a market designed exclusively for global film professionals – including buyers, sales agents, producers, and financiers – to gather to present upcoming projects, negotiate distribution rights, and initiate co-productions.

But does a festival run translate to commercial success? Absolutely. Just look at The Lunchbox (2013). As the film’s producer, Guneet used the Cannes Producers Network breakfasts to secure an international co-production. That exposure didn’t just fund the film; it created a global marketplace. The Lunchbox is a blueprint for how standard market access at Cannes can catapult a localized Indian story onto the global stage.

Annually, the Marché du Film unites more than 15,000 industry professionals from over 140 countries under one roof. It acts as a launchpad where nearly 4,000 films and early-stage projects take center stage. Industry insiders can explore an unparalleled variety of content, with over 1,200 screenings – ranging from highly anticipated blockbusters to hidden documentary gems – running across 31 premium screening rooms.

Guneet Monga explains, “Some films at Cannes are literally here to be sold. At Marché du Film, market screenings happen where filmmakers, producers, studios, streamers, distributors and buyers from across the world make multimillion-dollar decisions.”

One such success story is Parasite (2019). Long before it made Oscars history, Bong Joon-ho’s masterpiece sparked an absolute frenzy at the Marché du Film. Neon snapped up the North American rights early on, while international sales agents carved out record-breaking territorial distribution deals across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The massive baseline of guaranteed global theatrical distribution secured at the market laid the groundwork for its historic box office and award-season run.

Todd Haynes’ dark comedy-drama May December (2023) became one of the buzziest market titles in recent years. Following its screening, Netflix swooped in with an $11 million domestic rights deal for North America.

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light (2024) is arguably one of the most brilliant and textbook examples of how the Cannes ecosystem – from early-stage market incubation to competitive screening and subsequent global distribution – can completely manufacture an international arthouse phenomenon. Before it made history as the first Indian film in 30 years to compete for the Palme d’Or, ultimately winning the prestigious Grand Prix, its entire existence was stitched together by European coproduction markets and Cannes-associated incubation pipelines.