This is a spy in CANNES, who is taking in the festival and all that it entails. First up our Ladybird flutters in with a look at the fest itself, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS and LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL by Roberto Begnini. So relax and read a voyage to Cannes...
So here is a little review of Cannes:
Cannes is a town on the French Riviera : sun, sea and palm trees. There is a long promenade along the sea called " La Croisette" That's where all the thing happens. At one end of the Croisette, there is a kind of big beige blockhouse, with many steps to enter in, covered with a red carpet and french guards in uniform in line and photographers at the foot of the steps : it is the palace of the festival. All around, there is the crowd : bystanders, tourists, producers, movie sellers or buyers, everybody with sunglasses, sometimes with a camera. All along the promenade there are huge posters of movies shot or to be shot : Godzilla, Armageddon, Don't go breaking my heart, The Horse whisperer, etc...
The media are set on the beaches, under tents and every where, you can see cameras, handycams and journalists. Around the palace, you can find pavilions : the MIF pavilion, where you can buy movies, the MITIC pavilion dedicated to special effects, the US pavilion, the British pavilion. Inside the palace, there are two parts : the first one is the theatre, called "Louis Lumiere". It is said to be one of the greatest in the world, and indeed, it is huge. There is an orchestra, with a special row in the middle which is dedicated to the team of the presented film; there is also a balcony... and I can tell you that when you are a the top of it, you can see anything but the screen! The second part of the palace, it is where you can take your tickets ( but only if you have an accreditation card!), where there are the rooms for the press conference, and other stands of the MIF, and two others theatres, but less big.
The ambience is amazing : if you are "nobody", you have to queue every day in order to have your tickets, but you meet a lot of people in the line: from every country of the world, of any age, and you use to exchange your opinions of the latest films you have seen...
Everybody want to meet the stars : easy! You can see them on the stairs, in the theatre, and, of course, in the palaces and the parties! Every night, there are at least two parties, on the beaches, in the discos. Loud music, short dresses, flashes!
The ambience is really friendly and warm : it is cosmopolite and when you meet someone, you don't know in which language you must talk to him! You chat with anybody, and even with some film directors you had never ever heard about before a journalist rushes at him and at this moment you realize who you were talking to!
But, the main thing is : after three days of the festival, you are washed-out and you had more coffe shots than there are rumors about JFK and Diana's deaths put together!
