Our Man in Cannes - Tom Linay on the Festival de Cannes 2014

Tom Linay, DCM’s Head of Film, reports from Cannes for one of the biggest, if not the most prestigious events in the film calendar, the Festival de Cannes, sharing his hot tips for awards contenders.

I've been in Cannes a couple of days now and I've only just begun to get into the heightened atmosphere that the festival creates. You would think that the cream of the world's art-house cinema would engender a more reserved following but no, at times the fervour for the latest social realist offering from Belgium's Dardennes brothers borders on rabid.

Before you've adapted it can feel strangely alien, where queuing and queue-jumping is the norm and there's a strict hierarchy amongst attendants, with everyone envious of the hallowed pink press badge. However, despite the occasional queue based scuffle, we're all here for films and the line-up in Cannes, is as usual, second to none.

Nowhere is film and the people involved with making films more revered than Cannes. People hang around outside the many grand hotels on the Croisette hoping to get a glimpse of a star that is in town. If you're lucky enough to attend a première, applause greets the mention of anyone involved's name in the opening credits of a film and at the end of the film the stars in attendance end up stood in the centre of a circle of audience members who applaud them for what seems like half an hour.

The coveted Palme d'Or is awarded to the best film in the main competition and this year Mike Leigh, Bennett Miller (Moneyball), Ken Loach and Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) are just some of the film makers vying for the top prize. However, the other strands are equally as interesting, sometimes more so, as they often feature young filmmakers who are having their films screened at Cannes for the first time. Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, Lost River is premièring as part of the Un Certain Regard section.

Unless you have an aforementioned high ranking press pass it can be difficult to see all the films in competition but I caught Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher, starring Channing Tatum, Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo and I can say that it's already sure to be an Oscar frontrunner next year. The trio of performances is outstanding and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Carell or Tatum pick up their first nomination. It's likely to be out in the UK in the autumn.

Steve Carrel in Foxcatcher as John du Pont

I also caught Australian post-apocalyptic thriller, The Rover. A bleak, brutal tale of a man (Guy Pearce), at the end of his tether who goes on a vengeance filled quest to retrieve his car after it's stolen. It's directed by David Michod, whose last film was the brilliant Animal Kingdom and it's out in the UK in August.

Guy Pierce and Robert Pattinson in The Rover

Cannes also provides a myriad of advertising opportunities, with brands desperate to tie up with the festival or somehow bask in the glow of its star power. I bizarrely found myself at the 25th birthday celebration of Magnum ice cream, which has created a short film with legendary German auteur Wim Wenders about seizing the moment. The film stars Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and she answered questions at the event, revealing insights such as what her favourite ice cream is. It's just one of the unusual occurrences that happen at Cannes, if you accept the madness and let yourself go with it.