May 10, 2000 – May 13, 2025: 25 years ago today, Cannes entered the streaming era.
- Christophe Lenaerts
- May 12
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
While La Croisette celebrated world cinema during the 53rd Cannes Film Festival, another, discreet but visionary revolution was taking place behind the scenes. On the beach of Martinez, a daring project was born: the first ever live internet studio installed as part of the festival .
🎬 25 years ago today: a look back at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival – An unforgettable edition!
On 12 May 2000, the spotlight was on the Croisette for the 53rd edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Today, 2 Stream looks back at this special event, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary today. It was a time when world cinema was experiencing a true artistic boom, and Cannes was its beating heart. But this edition did not only mark the history of the 7th art: it was also the scene of a digital revolution, driven by pioneers of online broadcasting.
🏆 A Golden Palm that still resonates
Lars von Trier won the Palme d'Or for Dancer in the Dark , a musical drama starring a moving Björk. She also won Best Actress. The film, controversial but praised for its formal and emotional audacity, remains one of the most remarkable by Danish directors.
📡 A live web studio before YouTube
At the initiative of Christophe Lenaerts and his company Telemak , this unprecedented innovation gave birth to a team of pioneers nicknamed Netman . Equipped with DV cameras, 56k modems, laptops and home-made FTP servers, they captured and broadcast live footage from behind the scenes of the festival: interviews with artists, the atmosphere of the evenings, the emotions of the marches and the looks of the festival-goers, all accessible online at a time when 'streaming' was still just a familiar word.
🎥 Cannes 2000: a historic edition
The 2000 edition is still an important reference in the history of the festival today:
🎞️ Golden Palm : Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier , carried by a moving Björk , also named Best Actress.
🎬 Best Director Award : In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-wai , a cult film that has become a benchmark for film poetry.
🗣️ Screenplay Award : Le Goût des autres by Agnès Jaoui , with a candid and humanistic view of French society.
✨ And many other notable works, such as Devdas and Nanni Moretti , which reflected the diversity and richness of world cinema.
👾 A digital memory rediscovered
25 years later, 2 Stream offers you an immersion in this founding experience with two unpublished archives:
▶️ 🎞️ The exclusive vintage video:
📄 🗂️ The original PDF file of the Telemak project – Cannes 2000:
🌍 This visionary project laid the foundation for what would later become online event broadcasting, social livestreaming, and web recording . A quarter century later, these pioneers continue to inspire anyone designing digital live experiences today.
🎉 25 years later, the emotion is still intact and the innovation is more alive than ever.
At 2 Stream we pride ourselves on keeping this heritage alive and continuing to innovate with the same boldness we showed at Martinez Beach in May 2000.
📢 Were you there? Do you remember that time? Tell us in the comments or share this page to celebrate this beautiful story.
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