CANNES
2002
A
WORLD OF GLAMOUR AND GREAT BUSINESSES
Cannes
is a small town on the French Mediterranean shore that profits
directly over 100 million dollars with the film festival,
according to an estimative of the city hall. The town's
population increases three times with the cinema horde,
which sums up to 30 thousand professionals from 93 countries
and something around four thousand journalists. The data
are on the May 23 Le Monde's edition, when the 55th Cannes
Festival was on its second half with extreme security measures
against an improbable terrorist attack.
The
newspaper reminds that the indirect Cannes profits are uncalculating
when we think about the publicity that the tourism of the
region gets, a free international popularity, thanks to
cinema. The hotels and restaurants are crowded, the narrow
streets packed up, the flights full. The most expected films,
for the ones who didn't accredit months in advance, are
simply impossible to watch.
Even
the press accreditation follows a severe hierarchy. Maximum
priority is to the white accreditations, given to a few
elected and to the jury of the festival. After them come
the pink with yellow dots accreditations, for the daily
press. Below them are the pink with no dots, also for daily
press. Follow the blue accreditations and the least considerable
ones, the yellow.
The
most common in Cannes is hearing from a cinema professional
who still hasn't seen a single movie of the official selection,
as hard as it is to get entrances for the official screenings.
They are attended in order of priority of the organization
and the city hall guests. I have already heard a lot of
arguments from producers on the phone trying to get more
entrances for the staff of their films in competition. The
Lumière room, with 2.400 seats, is always full of
these guests, in its five screenings a day on the 12 days
of the festival.
There
is a parallel world to the glamour of the official screenings,
with photo and TV covering, also accredited in advance.
The film market is a bit far from this charm. It is in smaller
timeworn theaters, and in some small rooms for no more than
30 viewers that films, which will be shown in movie theaters
all over the world along the year, are sold and bought.
They are also exclusive to people who accredited months
in advance and paid submission fees. Some of the films in
parallel sections such as 'Un Certain Regard' and 'Director's
Fortnight' are accessible to film market accredited goers
and previously accredited film-lovers.
To
get to Cannes without previous program is sure frustration.
Even so, the number of by-standers and tourists the seashore
town attracts increases every year. Thousands of people
struggle all day long, come rain or come shine, as one can
see in the picture taken from inside of the festival palace,
in the attempt of seeing their idols from sort of close.
Inside
the great hotels, more good businesses with suites occupied
by international producers, where the future films have
its pre-selling and the future successes are discussed still
on paper with synopses, screenplays, casting discussions
and budgets. There is also another separate world, even
more sophisticated and restricted that happens on huge boats
in strictly restricted receptions. A top line 150 feet boat
can be hired for two weeks for 400 thousand dollars. A 2-star
hotel for the same period costs two thousand dollars, as
much as one night in a 5-star hotel during the period of
the festival.
In
this business world, the least important thing is, who is
going to win the 'Golden Palm'. As incredible as it might
seem, a great floating population goes to Cannes to attend
the parallel activities and temporary work in all services
connected to tourism and movies, as well as to the films
promotion. Without seeing a single movie. And promotion
turns out to be parties, some of them real nightmares. The
party for the British film "24 Hours Party People",
by Michael Winterbottom, had fights and hundreds of people
breaking into, aggressions and injuries. Happening in Cannes
might seem like another film.
Cannes
é um pequeno balneário no mediterrâneo francês
que lucra diretamente mais de 100 milhões de dólares
com o festival de cinema, segundo estimativa da sua prefeitura.
A população da cidade triplica com a horda cinematográfica,
calculada em 30 mil profissionais de 93 países e perto
de quatro mil jornalistas. As revelações estão
no 'Le Monde' de 23 de maio, quando o 
