Our dreams came true on May 16, 2007 when we took a flight up to France to attend the Cannes Film Market. It would have been even better if our film was selected for the Cannes Film Festival but hey, one thing at a time. We’re just happy to be there.
We didn’t plan to stay throughout the market/ festival period. It’ll burn too big a hole in our pockets. We were there for 7 days and managed to achieve what we set out to do – meet up with buyers and sales agents for TRUTH BE TOLD, and to suss out response for 2 of our projects currently in development. Of course, on the side is to soak in the atmosphere as much as we can! And that we sure did!
Strongly encourage anyone in the film industry to visit Cannes Film Festival/ Market at least once in their lifetime. It’s worth it! (But don’t forget to bring along your tux or evening wear for the ultimate experience – walking down the red carpet at premieres. We didn’t prepare for it this year. That leaves us something to look forward to next year!)
Flying into Cannes
We’re advised early on not to fly into Nice (nearest airport to Cannes) via Paris as we’ll definitely miss our connecting flight. Anyway, the most afforable air tickets we could find is with British Airways connecting to Nice via London. If there’s a choice, choose Qantas flights (they code-share with British Airways). The inflight entertainment (read: movies) is better – more choices and it’s Video-On-Demand. Our flight to London is with British Airways. We were bored out of our socks but I guess that gave us time to catch up on sleep. Our return flight is on Qantas. I hardly had time to finish all the movies I wanted to see!
Here’s some things we found at the Heathrow Airport. While transiting with nothing better to do and armed with a camera… (of course all three machines are of differing sizes. I just like to arrange the pictures neat and tidy. But hey, that’s not the point!)
Finding our Way Around
Most hotels in Cannes are already fully booked way in advance or the available ones cost us our limbs.
We’ve found a place at Juan Les Pins, a town near Cannes. The most direct way to get there is taking the bus number 200. The bus station is just right outside airport terminal 1, and it’s cheap at EUR 1,30 per person each way. But if you have a luaggage heavier than you are, opps… It’s going to be tough hauling it up onto the bus, especially if it’s crowded… like when we first boarded one. If you aren’t on a shoestring budget, take the cab (or fly the helicopter!) Cab costs about EUR 50(!!) from Nice to Cannes. (That’s like $100 Singapore dollars. I can take a cab from Jurong to Changi at least 3 times!)
Another alternative is to take the train but I think we still need to take a bus first to reach a train station.
So bus it is… except that it’s so packed that when we finally managed to squeeze into one, we’ve waited nearly 2 hours for the damn bus.
Hotel Au Tropico
Our hotel is the pink building in the background. The bus stop is just a short 1-minute walk away. The Juan Les Pins train station is also nearby – about 8 minutes’ walk away. Extremely convenient. Just wished that the public transport operates on time all the time and it’ll be perfect!
The hotel owner doesn’t really speak English and we can’t do French. But a bit of hand gesturing here, and halting English & French there went a long way. He said he’s picking up English this September so I guess overseas tourists are coming here in droves!
Our hotel room isn’t that bad either. Not too cramp as anticpated. (After Hong Kong where Eng Tiong and I have to make coordinated turns to manoeuvre in our tiny room without hitting each other, this is heaven!) The room comes with a hairdryer, which is really convenient. We’ve brought our own travelling iron but I’m sure the hotel has one if we asked.
Public Transport
Taking the bus is the cheapest option. I’m not sure about express bus services though. From Juan Les Pins to Cannes and vice versa, also with bus number 200, the journey takes between 30 minutes to 45 minutes depending on the traffic. At times, it took up to an hour. The bus time table is not exactly accurate. Worse, the bus may not stop to pick up passengers if it’s already full. There’s 2 important French words we’ve learnt, beside “bonjour” & “merci”. The first one is “complete.” It means full.
So we think of the next alternative – the train. It cost slightly more at EUR 2,10 each way. It is a much shorter journey to the Cannes station – about 15 minutes max. The problem is the waiting. Similarly, there’s a timetable but it’s only useful if the trains keep to it! We wanted to catch PARANOID PARK by Gus Van Sant at 8:30am. We nearly missed it because the train was late… very late. So the 2nd important French word we’ve learnt – “retard” which means late.
And then we thought we should have taken the bus… So who still wants to be a poor filmmaker?
CANNES!
The weather is fantastic… it’s hot but a cool breeze is constantly blowing so it doesn’t get sticky. At night I do feel a little chilly but Eng Tiong likes it best - it’s natural “air-con”.
An interesting mural on the side of a building. Spot film characters such as Mickey Mouse, R2-D2 & C-3PO!
Singapore’s advert on the go… SMART cars! It’s really a head-turner seeing a chain of 5 moving together. So cute!
On our last day there, we found the cars parking outside the market. Okay, we’re such suckers… just need to pose with one!
And other things we’ve found along the streets of Cannes…
Marche du Film
Tons of trade magazines and you may not see in this pictures… lots of people. These photos were taken in the beginning of the day so the crowd is non-existent.
At the Singapore booth, we had fun getting interviewed by MDA’s video crew. When it is Juan’s turn, his boss Sebastian helped hold the light! So spotting!
And Eng Tiong helping CNA journalist Valerie record a short segment. Sigh… I guess you can’t take a camera out of our hands. Itchy, itchy!!!
Sales offices aren’t confined to land. Yachts, anyone?
Red Carpet
Just look at the pictures. Need I say more? This is happening every evening & night. We could barely squeeze our way to the front for a better look. We could only see Gong Li, Andie MacDowell & Michelle Yeoh from the huge LCD TV even though the red carpet is less than 50 metres away. (Okay, maybe it’s because I’m short…)
And there are really people out there all dressed up but with no tickets, begging for one. Like this lady…
Now our turn on the red carpet… catching a screening. This is the 8:30am screening I was referring to that we nearly missed because of the train delay. Gus van Sant’s PARANOID PARK at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. As long as it’s not the evening screening, we don’t have to dress up all pretty.
One of these days, we’re going to walk on it like we owned it…
Inside Lumiere
The theatre is HUGE! We have balcony seats (wow… we don’t have that in Singapore cinemas anymore). I’m pretty sure if I missed a step, I’m going to roll all the way down, over the balcony and onto the stage. A very, very, very long way to fall. Actually I’m not used to sitting so far away from the screen. I only like seats right in the centre and on a row two-thirds up. Basically the sweetest spot in a theatre. Anything less and Eng Tiong knows he’ll will get it from me.
But for this, we’re just glad to be here!
Food
For those that we pay for, that is. Our favourite place will be MacDonald’s. Something familiar and erm… affordable?
Another store we patronise that sells cheap food – paninis going for about EUR 4 each. Bascially sandwich. My favourite (another really junkie item) is the Nutella with bananas panini. How can anyone resist Nutella! But after eating a few paninis, our palates start to hurt. You need skills to eat a sandwich or you’re going to rub your palate raw!
Eng Tiong’s “Fetish” – Cinema-spotting
Screenings are also held outside of the main Lumiere & Debussy theatres. We only managed to visit a theatre in Olympia for a market screening.
Blue Carpet
The red carpet is for official films in the main category. The blue carpet (Debussy theatre) is for films selected under the Un Certain Regard category. Maybe not as ”happening” as the red carpet, but it’s still a royal blue! The press and badge holders still queue up for them. The theatre gets filled just as quickly.
Other Crazy Things
Captain Jack Sparrow???!!!
Haha… yeah right!
???
