Let's talk about the badges you need for this festival. Badges, I'm told, make a world of difference between getting into the big screenings and not. Apparently, even if you're tenacious enough, creative enough, or just plain attractive enough to panhandle for tickets to the big screenings inside the Palais des Festivals, without some kind of badge you're dead in the water. The badges are all reserved for professionals - movie producers, distributors, agents, actors, technicians, directors, reporters, etc. (Notice, by the way, the proportion in that list to business-y jobs to "creative" jobs.) Badges are given only to those who have a bona fide professional justification to - as one of my least favorite teachers used to say - "run with the big dogs."
I have no such credentials. As of now, I'm just a guy with a few screenplays, fewer contacts, and not much direct experience with this business. I explain all of this to you so that, when I proclaim that I still got a badge (thanks to a local film society), you understand just how freaking long it's going to take me to count all my lucky stars.
Fortunately, that serves a writing purpose beyond telling you something you already know. It also helps set the tone. Cannes is now crawling with people wearing black lanyards with palm frond logos and names of festival sponsors. That's pretty crazy, but it's nothing compared to 6:15 PM.
That's when the guests to the opening ceremony show up. Star light, star bright. Minus the "star light" part. The red carpet was a pretty star-heavy affair. And fan-heavier. Between all the gawkers and the rerouted traffic for black cars to have room, you should never complain about another traffic jam again.
At any rate, since the opening ceremony was in the evening, there were no movies to catch in the afternoon and I didn't have anything on which to write my humble request for strangers' spare evening tickets. The opening film, by the way, was Wes Anderson's promising new comedy 'Moonrise Kingdom', whose stellar cast includes Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, and Bill Murray). One of the theatres to which I know I have access (space permitting) will screen the movie on Friday night, though, and it's more out of the way. Which is good for me.
So, after the madness of... all that... I showed a Cannes newcomer around for a while. Lena is good friends with one of the assistants I was pals with this year (said assistant, Krisia, being the one who told me most of everything I know about this here festival). We walked around, scoped out screening spaces, and even found our way into the reception area of the Palais des Festivals, which I had heard might throw me and my less-official badge out if I even got close. They didn't... as a matter of fact, most of the security folks seem very friendly (even when they refuse you access to other areas).
We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, where one diner, an older French gentleman, got really, really upset because I was carrying a San Pellegrino bottle around (he would have much preferred that, being in a restaurant, I set it down on his table, at least). I didn't get the whole of his rant (neither did the sweet lady at the next table, with whom I traded chuckling glances). But the gist of it was that apparently that's a particularly unclassy, stupid-looking American thing to do. When I started smiling and thanking him for his kind words - because my earnest inquiry as to his concern was getting me nowhere - he decided all hope was lost for my generation.
But that's the film festival for you - you never know what'll happen next. You might even find an iPhone on the street.
Yeah. It was a 4S. I got it back to its owner, some manager-type lady for a business in Marseille (her business card says), who thanked me profusely and promised to put me on the list for a short film series screening next week she's helping to run. (It's apparently a minor competition of its own, whose jury apparently includes the director of 'The Lion King'). Sounds cool to me. I'm glad it worked out okay and that she could keep working (though not half as glad as she was), and I'm glad that after one day I made it onto a list for something I didn't have access to when I woke up that morning.
Networking is a strange, strange thing.
. . .
This morning, I got up early to go into town and wait with Annie (fellow former assistant and festival attendee) to get giveaway tickets from our film society. It's basically like TKTS in London and New York. You go get in line and you get to pick tickets from whatever screenings they have to offer. We had hoped there would be tickets to big-name, in-competition films, but there weren't. And Annie's schedule for the day didn't mesh very well with their offerings.
But (and here's the teaser for tomorrow's entry)... I like to look on the bright side:
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