I was invited to the Cannes Film Festival by a good friend who had recently made a film, which was being shown there. I reckoned it would be a good opportunity to meet buyers and distributors for my recently released DVD teaching exercises for emotional and physical well-being.
After flying Hong Kong to Paris, In the usual tired and dishevelled state, I shuffle anxiously to the terminal where I can catch the flight to Nice, in the South. I’m no longer able to maintain the trusting casualness of my youth, and walking with a frown on my face, am worried about going the wrong way or being in the wrong place.
Turns out I love this terminal 2F in Charles De Gaulle natural airport-not only is there a superb shoulder massage area, but I discover in a recessed area next to the gate an organic food café. Heaven! My body is really craving some veggies after 12 hours of airline food. I order a ridiculous amount… little plastic pots of beans, petit pois, carrots, quinoa, as well as a large slice of spinach quiche. Also, let’s face it; we need sugar at these times, so the selection of French pastries proves irresistible. Tarte au Citron is just what the doctor ordered…
My companion on the Paris –Nice flight is a tall good looking young Frenchman. We do the usual -chat in French and English till we find out who speaks their language better, and I find out he’s a golf professional on a US scholarship. He tells me he was born in Cannes, and that it’s normally totally different from the overstuffed village I’ll experience at the film festival! I love to know about local busses and how to get around a place- so soon, I feel ready to roll.
On arrival at Nice airport the bus queue to Cannes was extraordinary. Every one was there for the film festival. A 24 year old from Los Angeles whose drama teacher had said, ‘why don’t you check it out, you’d enjoy it’; the middle aged American film producer; funky guy from Tokyo and another from Taiwan who gravitate to each other immediately as two Asians in Europe . Over 30 of us, all waiting in the rain. (I’m told the weather at the festival is always mixed, and it certainly lived up to expectations.)
The tiny Cannes bus station was near the waterfront, with it’s huge yachts and gin palaces berthed 100 metres out. An hour later I was back there with my hosts. Having lunch at a Trip – Advisered café in the heart of the village. We then walked up to La Croisette- the ‘strip’, with designer shops on one side, on the other the waterfront lined by lunch venues and film pavilions . The little beach 
afforded some interesting sights..
More importantly, La Croisette is also the site of the ‘Palais’, the epicentre of this little film world..
There are two festivals from May 15-24th– one the film competitions, the red carpet and glamourous parties. The other a film market with the whole world’s every buyers and sellers either working from their hotel room or taking up a stall at the huge underground market area underneath Le Palais.
The same film buyers also do TV and documentaries, so I was luck enough to get an appointment with a couple of them in the ‘doc.com’ corner of this film market regarding my own recently produced (teaching DVD).
As for the red carpet, what a lot of fun! Fabulous music as the long line of black limos roll up, depositing a star at the beginning of the carpet which leads to the Palais, where their film will be premiering. Just in case the celebrities can’t be seen well, a huge screen sits on the right of the Palais,with great close ups views of then posing, smirking and making cute faces at the camera.
Emma Watson, of Harry Potter fame, suddenly looks 10 years older in tons of make up in the daylight. Actually I thought she was Angelina Jolie – she and Brad have a house nearby- do all slim pretty brunettes who wear their hair up look the same? I hope so, as I felt pretty foolish making that mistake.
There are around 70 screenings of new films daily, only a minority ‘in competition’, that is red carpet stuff. To get a ticket to any of them at the last minute nigh impossible, as not only do you need a ticket but a festival pass at the same time. Warning to those who ‘just turn up’-lower your expectations of getting in anywhere!
As usual, I was lucky however. As when lining up for ‘accreditation’ I met the scriptwriter and producer of a new movie – an Englishman called Nikki, who himself not only didn’t have a pass but didn’t know when or where his own film was showing! He invited me to the showing of his movie, just premiering , ‘A Day In Istanbul’.
Somehow the days rushed by, with every lunch and dinner offering opportunities to meet yet more people in the film industry.
The stars were staying in the big hotels on LA Croisette, such as The Carlton, however movers and shakers hung out in the Grand, and everyone was having meetings from dawn till dawn…
In the lobby of the Grand I met an elderly Irish gentleman, accompanying his multiple award wining cinematographer son. He chatted for an hour, over 9Euro tea, whilst it rained buckets outside. His son had been in Yorkshire filming ‘Penelope’, a movie about the story, in the middle of the century, of Irish babies who were born out of wedlock, forcibly taken from their Mum’s and sent to the US for adoption. This was sanctioned by the Government, and Aer Lingus would fly them from Dublin to New York.
The interesting part of the story was that unbeknown to the son, his own wife, the cinematographer’s Mother, had been one of the women taking accompanying babies on the journey to new life. It was great, he said, as the Irish would take things to New York to sell, such as sausage, then buy goods for themselves to take home. So, whilst making this movie, he’s had no idea of his Mother’s involvement with this (in those days considered proper) business!
So many film stories! So many creative people from around the world…
Finally, the Palme D’Or film awards have been announced:
Palme D’Or: Blue is the warmest colour, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
Grand Prix: Inside Llewyn Davis, directed by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Award for best director: Amat Escalante for ‘Heli’
Award for best actor: Bruce Dern in ‘Nebraska’, directed by Alexander Payne
Award for best actress: Berenice Bejo in ‘Le Passe’ (The past), directed by Asghar Farhadi
Award for best screenplay: Jia Zhangke for ‘Tian Zhu Din’g (A touch of sin)
Jury Prize: Soshite Chici ni Naku (like Father, like Son), directed by Kore-Eda Hirokazu
Vulcain Prize for an artist technican, awarded by C.S.T: GRIGRIS, directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun