Le Festival de Cannes: Up the Red Carpet

by Michelle Nott

published on Rendez-Vous, March 2011

Most people dream of the French Riviera, its sun, its sand, its sea...and its stars. There are

plenty. Whether you are on a yacht looking up at a cloudless night or perched on an inch

of pavement facing the red carpet of the Palais du Festival, stars will be shining. In

particular, from the 11th to the 22nd of May this year, the city of Cannes will open its ports

to another wave of cinema professionals and fans for the 64th Cannes Film Festival. A

lucky few will actually realize their dream of walking up the Palais steps toward and into

the Grande Auditorium.

The current Palais du Festival is not, in fact, the original venue. And, the physical

structure of the festival is not the only change. Let's rewind over 60 steps back in history

to better project this evolution.

In 1930, the only international film festival was held in Venice, Italy. Some professionals

feared it was becoming too political, notably the French. In 1938, despite rave reviews,

Jean Renoir's “La Grande Illusion” lost the top prize (referred to as the Mussolini Cup) to

a German film highlighting the Nazi achievements at that year's Olympics in Berlin. As a

result, critics and filmmakers petitioned the French Government to host its own festival

free of political influence. After much thought, the government agreed. Of course, many

cities were considered but Cannes won based on the sunny climate, not to mention its 115

hotels and abundance of restaurants.

Wishing to extend the tourist season another two weeks, this first Festival International
du Film was to take place in Canne's renovated casino on September 1, 1939. Louis

Lumière, the co-founder of cinema, was its president. Unfortunately, France would enter

into World War II the next day and the Festival would only have time for one film,

Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) by William Dieterle.

The lights did indeed shine again after the dark years of war. They were called starlets,

and more specifically Brigitte Bardot and Simone Sylva. Despite some financial

difficulty at the end of the 1940s, the Festival held strong. The festivities were relaunched

in 1946 in a newly constructed Palais on the Croisette.

The next decade brought two more improvements. As the Berlin and Venice film

festivals were earlier in the year, Cannes' festival was missing out on many premiers. Its

dates, consequently, shifted from September to May. In 1955 Lucienne Lazon designed

the first festival trophy – a heart with a palm. Since then, Chopard has had the exclusive

rights to craft the Palme d'Or, a symbol of victory and life based on the legend of St.

Honorat.

The Festival was also growing. In 1959, it expanded to include Le Marché du Film where

professionals could meet to promote or to collaborate on projects. In that famous year of

1968, France went through quite an upheaval and even the cinema world reacted. The

then Minister of Culture, André Malraux, wanted to fire Henri Langrois, the co-founder

of Cinématique, over budget issues. Langrois was extremely popular with film

professionals, notably Louis Malle, Roman Polanski, François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc

Godard. Their protests (“antics” really) quickly persuaded Malraux to change his mind.

Although Langrois was indeed an important figure, some felt that the issue was too

political and contradicted the Festival's beginnings of being free from political platforms.
As a result, Société des Réalisateurs de Films was formed by a group of filmmakers

including Robert Enrico and Jacques Doniol-Valcroze. They then added another side

event to the festival called Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. This forum presents films without

any censorship or diplomatic agenda.

For thirty years, the Festival was held at le Palais Croisette, the current Palais Stéphanie.

However, the festival was growing every year. A new solution was researched, although

not completely admired. Architects Bennett & Druet drew up the plans for the modern

Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. Nine floors, including two levels of garages, houses

the Grande Auditorium and 24 other auditoriums. While the smaller auditoriums seat

anywhere from 10 to 300 people, the Grande Auditorium seats 900 spectators on the

main floor and 1400 in the balcony (careful on the steps, as they go up at a 45 degree

angle!) An additional 300 places are foreseen and yet rows A through H are removed so

that Brad Pitt, George Clooney et al., plus competition filmmakers seated in Row I, have

a clear view of the stage.

If you haven't seen Cannes during festival week, picture 300 photographers and 1500

journalists swarming the city, plus beautifully dressed men and women in and out of

shops like Chanel and Dior. Of course, the beaches are packed. Unless, however, you

have access to the private beaches of the Majestic, the Carlton, or the Martinez,

celebrities won't be blocking your sun.

In the 1980s, celebrities, filmmakers and members of the jury were freely walking up and

down the Croisette. Times have changed and personal security is a top priority.

Regardless, plenty of the most famous stars will dazzle up the red carpet each night of the

Festival. The best view from the street is just across the main entrance of the Palais or
from an apartment balcony. If you get there early and think there is a good spot from the

side, remember all the photographers will also be arriving. And that is their spot.

As we are no longer in the 1960s when anyone could attend the showings, imagine for a

moment being one of the selected few to walk up those carpeted red steps. Your

chauffeur opens the limousine door at the bottom of the staircase. You stand, turn, wave.

(You hope you've checked your teeth for lipstick). Your earpiece directs you, “Walk

straight, turn right, smile, wave. Turn left, smile, wave. Walk up steps, stop, turn left,

wave” and so on. This less-than-relaxing entrance is not over until you take your seat.

Once through the glass doors, this is not the time to fix your panty-line. Everyone already

seated in the Grande Auditorium is still watching your every move on the big screen.

Besides gallivanting up the red carpet in the evening, celebrities are giving interviews and

going to viewings in the Palais during the day. They could enter from the back past

numerous stands of film associations or from the underneath parking garage. The badge

holders enter from the front entrance at the right of the red carpet. Inside past the security

check, to the right is the Théâtre Debussy. Spectators view films in Le Certain Regard

competition here. Proceeding straight up the many flights of stairs, journalists and

photographers are consulting time schedules, talking into their audiophones, cellphones,

and jotting down notes. An interview room awaits at the very top floor. The press gathers

well in advance of the particular movie director, producer and cast. Flashbulbs announce

their arrival to the left. Only a small group of journalists are ushered in behind them into

this small room for the press conference. Journalists left outside can always go all the

way downstairs, just outside Le Marché du Film hall, where interviews are shown on

closed-circuit televisions.
The Espace Toscane opens across the hall from the Théâtre Debussy, in front of the

Grande Auditorium. The glass facade welcomes the celebrities who turn to offer a final

smile to the crowd, the cameras, and the palm trees before taking their seats. Translators

and speakers line the sides of the auditorium. In the middle section about half-way back

is a box of specific seats for members of the jury.

On the evening of the Palm d'Or, only the jury, the festival president and the “chef de

lumières” (to know where to shine the spot lights, of course) know the winner, and guard

the secret carefully. Just outside the Grande Auditorium is a cozy room, called La Loge

du Mer, where the jury gathers for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres or just to relax. During the

festival, four projections are shown per day, two of which are in the competition. Jury

members are required to attend at least one, often at 8:30am with the press. They can roll

out of bed across the street at the Majestic minutes before tending to their duties.

At the end of this same hall is a magnificent, wall-sized, blue and gold mosaic of le

Palme d'Or. The celebrities get a last glance of it as they sneak out to the right through

the administration offices (and the trashcans) to the second floor of the garage where the

chauffeurs await. For those who stay long enough for cocktails, the veranda referred to as

Espace Georges Pompidou invites up to 300 guests at a time. In the park under these

windows, hand prints in pavement line the walkway. Some impressions need to be redone

and so, the last hands molded are those of Sharon Stone in 1992.

The Salon des Ambassadors, at the back of the Palais, overlooks the yachts and

accommodates eight hundred to one thousand dinner guests. Otherwise, up to 3000

invitees can mingle with cocktails while appreciating the view of the islands of Ste

Marguerite and St Honorat.

To this day, the Cannes Festival is a premier place to appreciate the art, and glamour, of

the seventh art. But also year round, Cannes delights residents and visitors with its sunny

disposition. The luxury shops, the casino, the beaches, plus the delicacies and wines of

the Mediterranean are ever present. And yes, the stars shine every night.

References

Cannes Guide for Filmmakers and Film Professionals, “Festival Basics”, accessed 5

February, 2011.

Le Festival de Cannes, “About the Festival”, accessed 5 February, 2011.

L'Office du Tourisme de la Ville de Cannes