Today we travel to film festivals around the world to learn about their different histories and goals. Some of the festivals are major competitions, while others are smaller events to help draw attention to more experimental movies.

One of the most famous film festivals in the world takes place in the French town of Cannes during twelve days in May. The Cannes Film Festival started in 1946 as a social gathering for showing movies. Later, the popular event developed into an important competition.

The Venice International Film Festival starts in late August. Dating back to 1932, it is one of the oldest movie festivals in the world.

Many film festivals have very specialized subjects. In Belgium you can go to the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. For 26 years this festival has been showing science fiction and horror movies from around the world.If this event seems too frightening, you can attend the International Children's Film Festival in Frankfurt, Germany.In Turkey, the International Film Festival, which was first organized in 1982, shows movies about art, music£¬dance or literature.

On any given day, a film festival is probably taking place somewhere around the world. Here we've only discussed a small number of them. These important and exciting events help to celebrate the art and industry of movies.