The weather is sunny this year in Cannes, which means that if you’re hurrying to a screening with your heavy computer bag, your badge flapping up and down on your chest and your feet long since blistered by your shoes, you’re bound to be sweatier than usual. Even those who never sweat turn up sweaty at screenings.
But to wait a full hour in line and be turned away at a screening can cause even the coolest among us to despair. This was why I decided to squirrel up my courage and talk to the press office about my yellow badge. I’d been told that if you make a good enough case they’ll “look at your file,” which means they’re reconsider your application. In my case, I’ve gotten a bump by doing reporting and reviews for TheWrap, which did change my application status. After a long, heated debate with a very pretty, poker-faced woman wherein I invoked the French Revolution, I was informed that they would have a decision for me in the morning.
Since I’ve been driving back and forth from Juan-Les-Pins to Cannes, I’ve come to know the backstreets quite well. I’ve learned, for instance, that the French people here, except in Cannes, shut their doors, turn out their lights and head to bed around 9:30pm. If you’re in need of dinner your choices are going to be fairly limited.
But the advantage to staying out of town is that one can find a quiet night of sleep in a lazy, unpopulated beach town, far away from the chatter of the crowds here. When you walk the Croisette at night after a screening, you are confronted with masses of attendees all trying to get tickets to the night’s big gala. You never really get used to the women who dress up to just stand there, hoping to get noticed. Cannes is, to many, a place where dreams can come true.
Wednesday’s screening brought Woody Allen and his cast of "Midnight in Paris" to the Palais for a photo call and press screening. Rachel McAdams, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Woody would all be back that night for the gala screening. Attendees always need at least two outfits for these photo opportunities.
Allen wasn’t as funny this time around as he had been last year. But any chance to see him speak in public is a privilege not to be squandered, which was why the paparazzi swarmed the wi-fi room to catch them on their way back from the photo call to the press conference in the Palais du Festival.
Also read: Cannes Opens with Woody Allen's Parisian Valentine
The photographers sat down quickly and started processing their photos for publication. The faster they upload them the faster they get online, the more money they make. This is occasionally a great way to see photos way before anyone else.
Allen’s film has been well-received here, which has led to speculation that this year will be much better for films overall than it was last year.
