It’s that time of the year, when the Indian film industry gets jittery, as the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25, 2014) is round the corner. Every filmmaker with a new movie fantasises about sashaying down the red carpet at Cannes, as he waits anxiously for announcement of the festival selection. The topmost question in his mind is: what does Cannes want? If he could get a checklist, he would tick off the requirements and jugaad his way to the red carpet.

Even though I have 30 years’ experience in film-related work and 15 years in film curating, the answer to what festivals look for, remains nebulous. In my experience, the festivals say: we’re looking for something original that pushes boundaries and will surprise us, with a political or social revelation or comment. Christian Jeune, Director of the Film Department, Cannes Film Festival, said in an interview: “The more you are local, the more you are universal. Never do a film for a festival.”