Department of Film Studies

Film Studies Professor goes to Cannes

The seminar is designed to cover the ways and methods by which a filmmaker can make best use of the Cannes Film Market.

Film Studies Professor, Jeff Van Hanken enrolled in the Film Program Cannes, a seminar designed by independent filmmaker Ralph Ackerman and taught by NYU Film School Associate Professor Bob Nickson during this last summer. The seminar is designed to cover the ways and methods by which a filmmaker can make best use of the Cannes Film Market. There were more than 5,000 companies represented at the market, which made it the world's largest and most productive.

Before leaving Tulsa, Professor Van Hanken was able to pitch the story to several news outlets, eventually landing in a preview piece in USA Today as well as receiving rather substantial coverage in a CNN International show called "The Screening Room." While at the market, Van Hanken made numerous contacts with potential sales agents, distributors, producers, film commissions from across the globe, as well as film services companies such as Kodak. He also made contact with Walter Harris, director of the student intern program at the American Pavilion, at which the Film Studies Department hopes to place University of Tulsa students in the years to come.

The Cannes Film Festival was founded in 1946, and is one of the world's oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. The private festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.