How and why, Cannes Film Festival, A major event for Film and Cinema, turned into a self-promotion event for influencers...
 |
| The Cannes Film Festival: Image source Instagram |
From the beginning, the Cannes Film Festival was meant to celebrate the art of cinema and filmmaking. Every year, filmmakers, actors, and industry professionals gather to represent, appreciate, and encourage world-class cinema.
But over the last few years, social media has established itself as a prominent part of every individual's life, influencing them with small video content created by content creators and influencers. It doesn’t stop here, influencers are not only active on social media, but they are moving one step forward. Now they are looking for more prominent spaces to showcase their popularity, and the Cannes Film Festival is one of them.
The Cannes Film Festival has now become one of their major red carpet event for influencers. Every small to popular influencer is trying to get a ticket to Cannes. It felt amiss for such a prestigious event, over the last few years, the Cannes red carpet has been crowded with unexpected and arguably unwelcome surge of Indian influences, who have no relation with the film industry.
The red carpet used to be for artists and filmmakers to promote their films, but now it is full of influencers. Influencers may have brought glamour, but their presence overshadowed the true essence of the festival. What happened and why there is a sudden surge of influencers is seen, let’s find out.
The Rise of Social Media and Influencers at a Film Festival: A Step Backwards?
Cannes has long been the gold standard for cinephiles, an exclusive platform for showcasing films of artistic and groundbreaking direction. However, from 2024, the festival seems less about cinema and more about Instagram and Facebook. Social media is flooded with pictures of Indian influences with no attention from the media. Yet they tried hard to pose as a renowned celebrity.
Anyone hardly knows them there, who they actually are, and where did they come from. Neither, they had participation in the films, set to be screened, nor they were invited as a guest. So, how and why were they crawled on the red carpet?
Everyone thinking the same question. And in the year 2025, it became more talk of the town as the red carpet saw a big number of Indian influencers. Why did this happen? Let’s dive in more.
Cannes became just a platform for self-promotion
You might remember last year when Influencer Nancy Tiyagi captured widespread attention after debuting on the red carpet of Cannes. Her presence quickly became viral, turning her from an ordinary influencer to an overnight celebrity. She got many offers and recognition by Bollywood celebs. This seems to be the trigger point for social media influencers, and they took it seriously nd decided to seize similar opportunities this year.. This year, an interestingly high number of influencers took the chance and appeared at the festival just to self-promote in the hope of Global prestige.
Some posed for photos in lavish outfits, yet it can be seen how much they were ignored by photographers.
The influencers, engagement, and Sponsorships
As the present day social media influencers are the cheap promotional objects for the big brands to promote their products and reaching out to the last level of the customer.
It might be possible that they are using it in festivals like this to fulfill the purpose of marketing. The presence of these influencers does not add any real value to the festival, but it simply boosts views, likes, and engagement for brands.
It can’t be denied that many influencers from India (and other parts of the world) have a large number of followers, and they help them in Average Engagement Rates. Engagement gives them sponsorship and financial evaluation. Who doesn’t want that? Click photos on the red carpet and post them to your social media account; it will surely increase your followers. Brands and small corporated will approach you to sponsorships.
Whether it's a Short-Term gain for India or Long-Term Consequences and embarrassment
While it’s clear that influencers brought a significant amount of attention to Cannes 2025, they did it actually. Only a few people who were interested in rich cinema used to look for the Cannes red carpet, but now you can see how viral this event has become. The engagements were high, the views and likes on influencers' profiles tell the story.
But, one has to ask: At what cost? The short-term benefits of viral content, brand deals, and increased social media traffic is good for such events. What if it loses its soul and purpose? What if such rich cultural significance becomes a platform for self-promotion and consumerism?
Cannes has always been about the love of cinema and the celebration of creative minds. In 2025, that focus seemed to be overshadowed by Influencers, #ad posts, and an unhealthy obsession with status. The festival became more about who's wearing what and which influencer could secure the most engagement, rather than the art of storytelling or the filmmakers who create it. Tell me, did you happen to see any filmmakers that has been covered by the media and given enough time to celebrate their time on the red carpet? Every celeb was seen to be pushed by the security in just a few seconds, and the crowd looked insane for such an event.
Cannes was built as a celebration of cinema, not an influencer playground. If this continues, the future of such cultural events will be at stake.
.jpg)
