Apart from the fun of being in Cannes, the prospect of making some serious contacts is very high. Through the medium of film, Paper from Portugal wants you to help them raise online awareness of the fact that their high quality brands are creating more forests and a better future.

Needless to say, a brief is available on the Mofilm site which you will find here. Deadline, May 28 2012.

Check for accommodation during

Cannes Lion 2012  now

Each year, Midem showcases the best new upcoming music apps and services under the Midemlab sidebar. This year’s finalists -  chosen by UK digital consulting company Music Ally and French specialist open innovation consultancy bluenove – will pitch their projects to a jury of leading international digital experts including potential business partners and leading investment firms. The sessions have proven very popular with the Midem audience, who are given sneak peaks into new ways of combining music with business.

Previous editions have provided a launch pad for some of today’s major technological innovations, such as SoundCloud, The Echo Nest, Songkick and Root Music.

Music Discovery, Recommendation & Creation

ChartsNow.mobi (UK) – mass market mobile music service

MPme by Apsmart (UK) – curated internet radio

musicplayr (Germany) – music discovery & blogging

Navegas (Germany) – connecting the world of music tool

Rexly (USA) – social discovery & recommendation

Songs2See by Fraunhofer (Germany) – music game development

SoshiGames (UK) – game-based social music discovery

Twusic by LemonLab (Belgium) – Twitter music application

Watzatsong (France) – crowdsourced music search engine

WhoSampled (UK) – music discovery

Marketing & Social engagement

BandApp (UK) – free instant artist app creation

Beloola by V-Cult (France) – social music service

CrowdSurfing by LiveOne Group (USA) – live content social viewing app

Flowd (Finland) – music marketing and social music service

iPluggers (Netherlands) – worldwide digital radio promotion

Oocto by GeniusMonk (France) – crowdfunding & crowdsourcing music platform

Pipe (Germany) – file transfer for social networks

RockStar Motel (USA) – fan-centric music social network

Tastebuds.fm (UK) – social events discovery

Webdoc (Switzerland) – fan engagement

Direct to consumer sales and Content Monetisation

Getonic (Israel) – direct to consumer social ecommerce

Menyou (Sweden) – online sales and distribution tool

Musicsoft Arts (USA) – interactive music discovery, playback and sales

My Bee (France) – access control and dematerialized payment

Ondango (Germany) – Facebook commerce solution

SonicAngel (Belgium) – next generation crowdfunding label

TuneRights (Sweden) – stock market for music

Tunipop (USA) – connecting merchandise with digital music

Weezevent (France) – cloud ticketing service

WildChords by Ovelin (Finland) – guitar learning game

Not all these companies are start-ups. Germany’s Fraunhofer was involved in developing the MP3 format and the Potato system for encouraging the re-sale of music by fans. TuneRights has been working on its musical stock market – an idea that is ripe – for several years. So the combination of young talent and experienced developers should make for some exciting ideas.

It would also be interesting to see how these apps could be used in other “content” industries such as movies or TV.

Visitors to Midem in January 2012 will find a completely new layout and focus. First, the bad news: the celebrated Midem opening night party is no more! There have been some sensational ones over the years. The good news is that they are beefing up the interface between music, brands and technology.They are also beefing up the concert programme, which had been less prominent in the past few years.

MidemLab 2012 to showcase music apps

One of the most exciting parts of last year’s event was MidemLab, which rapidly became the haunt of music start-ups and hackers (in the best meaning of the word). The organisers are looking for initiatives that will enable music labels and producers to monetise music. Last year’s winners include Discovr, Next Big Sound and Shuffler.fm. They got to present their apps or services to the world’s music industry and investors.

British company Decibel develop some pretty interesting things using the all-important metadata (check their site at Decibel). They reported getting trials with three major music labels and two major distributors as well as “huge market validation”. Although they didn’t win, here’s last year’s winners had to say.

Applications for this year’s event are open. If you have a funky music app (or know someone that does) apply here.

Midem has also announced a radical re-thinking of its pricing, with special artist-friendly prices. See the site for more details. Follow Midem News or catch the regular updates, tips and links on Twitter.

Book your Midem hotel now,

pay later.

“We are extremely pleased to honour Anne Sweeney as our MIPCOM 2011 Personality of the Year in recognition of her unparalleled contributions to the global entertainment industry,” said Paul Zilk, Chief Executive of Reed MIDEM. “Of special note is her contribution to the expansion of Disney’s portfolio of channels, brands and programming worldwide, as well as her visionary leadership in fostering content on emerging digital platforms.”

Sweeney will notably be giving a keynote address at MIPCOM, which will be held October 3-6, 2011 in Cannes. “The accomplishments which have led to this honor are not mine alone,” she says. “This event will allow me to acknowledge and celebrate everyone on the Disney/ABC Television Group and Disney Media Distribution teams, who not only create some of the most acclaimed and popular programming around the globe, but also continually develop new, innovative distribution methods that meet the ever-evolving needs of consumers.”

Inevitably, it is Sweeney’s role in driving Disney and ABC material onto new platforms that picks up particular attention at cross-media events such as MIPCOM. Her talk on Wednesday 5 comes under the MIPCOM Media Mastermind banner.

Get more MIPCOM news

Check for Cannes hotels during MIPCOM 2011

According to the release, IKEA encourages creative, unconventional and humorous advertising to raise awareness of their brand and drive people to enter their stores. The marketing strategy is based around their idea of offering a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible can afford them. IKEA localises its global target market and creates campaigns that vary significantly across territories and adapt to the marketing conditions and cultural sensibilities of each country.

Strong relationships
IKEA won their first Cannes Lion in 1991, and have gone on to win 50 Lions across all categories since then, including the Film Grand Prix in 2003 for ‘Lamp’ and a Titanium Lion in 2010 for ‘Facebook Showroom’.

“IKEA’s approach to its marketing and communications, with its decentralised structure and strong relationships with many different kinds of agencies, has been hugely successful over many years,” says Philip Thomas, Cannes Lions CEO. “The company’s superb track record at Cannes reveals a clarity of vision and an enviable willingness to allow its agencies to truly flex their creative muscles. We congratulate both IKEA and its many agencies across many countries on this well-deserved honour.”

The Advertiser of the Year trophy will be presented in Cannes to Noel Wijsmans, Global Retail Manager and Vice President of IKEA Group, during the Film, Film Craft, Titanium & Integrated and Creative Effectiveness Lions on Saturday 25 June 2011.

The only question left is: will the trophy be presented as a kit?

There’s a fee to submit films, and screenings take place in the Palais (which actually features  a large number of small screening theatres in addition to the main auditorium) or “other top screening sites in Cannes”.

More details will be available from April 2011. Check this review of last year’s event. For further information visit Cannes Independent Film Festival. If you have good or bad experiences of the event, please fee free to post comments below.

Ruelle joined Radio France in 1969, which became RFI two years later.  Working there as a journalist, she began specializing in cinema in 1973, producing Dialogues, Cinémas Sans Frontières and L’Actualité du Cinéma.
  A film critic for many publications (Afrique-Asie, Le Monde Diplomatique …) and founder of the association Racines, which she has chaired since 1984, Catherine Ruelle has organized festivals and events devoted to Pan-African Film – Racines Noires, Rencontres des Cinémas du Monde Noir, Ciné-Contes avec Makéna Diop, et le Ciné-Club Afrique à Paris, since January 2005.
  Since 1979, she has worked in various capacities as President, or member of the Organizing Committee of international film festivals in Paris, Cannes, Milan and Geneva.

In 1980, she co-organized the first festival ever in Europe that celebrates Black American independent filmmakers and with her founding of Racines in 1984 she produced the first annual International Roots Film Festival at the Centre Georges Pompidou.
  She has also co-founded in partnership with acclaimed Senegalese director Mahama Traoré the special award Djibril Diop Mambety at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2008 she was appointed Artistic Director of Midsummer’s Night Dream Digital Film Festival in Paris.
  Jury member for numerous festivals including Fespaco, the Festival of African Cinema of Milan and the Festival of Paris, she co-authored several books (including CinemAction in 1978, with Guy Hennebelle and The Birth of African Cinema, with Alessandra Speciale Turin, 1998) and undertaken with the Cameroonian journalist Samé Ngosso a study of film and TV in Africa (UNESCO, 1982).

The Pan-African Film Festival was created to celebrate movies from Africa and the African diaspora, and is now one of the most prestigious dates on the African festival circuit. In addition to cinema,e it also showcases fashion.

More about the Pan-African Film Festival

These highly respected industry accolades, including the renowned Cruise Personality of the Year Award, will be presented in true French Riviera style – in the opulent surrounds of the Opéra de Nice, designed and constructed in 1882 by François Aune, a student of Gustave Eiffel.

Short-listed nominees are:
Port of the Year – ABP Port of Southampton, Le Havre, Port Everglades’ Cruise Terminal 18
Destination of the Year – Madeira, Stavanger, Var Provence Cruise Club (VPCC)
Onboard Supplier of the Year – Image, Mivan Ltd, MTN Satellite Communications
Environmental Initiative Award – Agilysys Hospitality Solutions Group, Eniram Ltd, French Riviera Cruise Club
Marketing Initiative Award – Iceland Travel’s Christmas Hot & Spicy video, Mifsud Brothers Ltd-Gozo promotion, NCL Norwegian Epic’s Studios
Innovative Shorex Award – Intercruises’ Mamas & Tapas Tour, Ambassatours’ Gray Line Big Pink Bus Tour Company, Tura Turizm’s Traditional Turkish Wedding

The Seatrade Insider Cruise Awards take place during an evening of music performed by the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra, part of Seatrade Med’s delegate social programme. The evening is hosted by the City of Nice with Insider Awards’ principal sponsorship from Fidelio Cruise Software GmbH and individual award sponsorship from the Mauro Terrevazzi Foundation and V. Ships (Cruise Personality of the Year) and MedCruise (Environmental Initiative Award).

Seatrade Med 2010 opens its doors on Tuesday 30 November, at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, for two and a half days of high-level industry conference, a major exhibition, Cruise Agent Day by Top Cruise and an exciting social programme. This is the first time the convention will be held in France, organised in association with the French Riviera Cruise Club and supported by MedCruise.

Among the highlights of the ceremony held on November 18 in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes, Frederic Lefebvre, France’s Secretary of State at the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, gave the MAPIC 2010 Personality of the Year award to Jean-Paul Freret, Director of Expansion and Real Estate and member of the executive committee of the Vivarte group.

List of winning entries:

Best interntional retailer:

Jack Wolfskin (Germany) for its innovative outdoor clothing shops and range.

Best new retail concept:
Lego (Denmark)

Best shopping centre:
Odysseum (Montpellier, France) for its futuristic architecture and integrated shopping experience.

Best improved city attractiveness:
Brussels, Capital region (Belgium) for the lengths it goes to work with retailers.

As part of the France Country of Honour celebrations, the MAPIC Awards Jury chose Jean-Paul Freret, Director of Expansion and Real Estate and member of the executive committee of the Vivarte group as Personality of the Year.

If you or someone you know has an innovative digital product or service,  our tip is definitely to give it  shot.

Criteria for selection:

• You commit to register & attend MIDEM if selected to pitch.
• You must be a newly established company (no more than 3 years ago) with a maximum of 10 full-time employees.
• You must be business ready: already launched or in beta.
• You must be independently owned.
• You must be genuinely original and innovative.
• You must be able to effectively demonstrate a positive business impact for potential partners and MIDEM attendees.
• You must have an international viability.

Apply for MIDEMNET Lab. The deadline is Oct 31, which is also the deadline for delegates to benefit from the early bird deadline.