As far as I can tell the first international film festival was held in Venice in 1932.

The festival is till very active. From their website

The first "Esposizione d'Arte Cinematografica" came into being in 1932 as part of the 18th Venice Biennale (from 6 July to 21 August 1932) under the auspices of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, President of the Biennale, the sculptor Antonio Maraini, General Secretary, and Luciano De Feo, General Secretary of the International Institute for Educational Cinema, based in Rome. Luciano De Feo was the very first director-selector.

It was earlier called The Exhibition of the Cinematic Arts, now simply The Venice Film Festival.

In the second festival held in 1934, they invited the Indian film industry to send information about the industry, films to be shown and photos.

It was here that the first ever Indian film to win an international honorary diploma was shown, Seeta (1933).

I will be posting some photos from the festival report.

Director: S B Shinde

Now You Know!

Musing 1811. Second Venice Film Festival 1934

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