Cannes 2006 winners

Although many people are saying that overall this was a rather tepid edition, the top winners are quite strong. Giving the best actor and actress awards to collective casts is also an interesting notion.

The Awards

Palme d´Or
The Wind That Shakes The Barley by Ken Loach

Grand Prize
Flanders by Bruno Dumont

Best Actress
The cast of Volver

Best Actor
The cast of Indigènes

Best Director
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu - Babel

Best Screenplay
Volver - Pedro Almodóvar

Jury Prize
Red Road by Andrea Arnold

Caméra d´Or
12:08 East Bucharest by Corneliu Porumboiu

Palme d´Or for the Best Short Film
Sniffe by Bobbie Peers

For the full round up, see Cineuropa.

Changes in Nice airport shuttle timetables

I don't know when it happened, but the RCA airport shuttle (line n° 210) timetable has been changed. The last one now leaves Cannes from close to the Mairie/town hall at 7pm! That's right, after 19h, you will have to fork out €70-80 to get to the airport from Cannes. The airport website still lists the last shuttle at 8pm (which is already way too early for a public service in my opinion). But the timetable at the bus stop is clear: 7pm. The bus n° 200 that goes through Antibes does run until 8.10pm (8.30 on Sundays and holidays), but it takes between an hour and 90 minutes to get to the airport and stops at Terminal 1. For the latest timetables, check the RCA timetable (in French).

If you intend to leave Cannes after 7pm, I strongly recommend planning ahead and sharing a cab.

"Paris je t'aime": divorce, French-style

Legal proceedings are again creating a cloud over Cannes this year. The Chinese film "Summer Palace" by Lou Ye is being held up by the Chinese censorship authorities, although the festival has vowed to screen the film anyway. Meawhile, French producer Emmanuel Benbihy has asked for a court injunction to block "Paris, je t'aime", a series of Paris-based shorts directed by Gus Van Sant and Gurinder Chadha amongst others. Contributions from film-makers Raphael Nadjari and Christoffer Boe were cut. This led Benbihy to complain it was not the film he engaged to co-produce. It is set to screen on Thursday evening - if the courts allow it.

Scriptwriters make noise at Cannes

Following the lead of 101 Scénaristes last year, Cannes will feature a number of scriptwriting initiatives. The largest will probably be the Journées du Scénario/Writers' Days being run by France's enterprising UGS. They have set up a database of available scripts and will run a Script Market, sailing events and lots of talks and round tables. Unfortunately, the market is only open to produced writers, but will doubtless be an exciting event. Catherine Deneuve has accepted to be the “godmother”, or patron, of the whole thing.

Staying in France, the Adami is running a second Speed Dating session on Monday 22. The idea is simple: put a bunch of writers, actors, producers and musicians in the same space for about an hour and hope that connections are made. Adami is particularly good at finding and supporting young actors.

Writer/director Karan Johar (“Khabhi Khushi Khabhie Gham”) will be talking at the UK Film Centre on Friday May 19, followed by Ken Loach the next day. The London Script Consultancy will hold its second Panasonic International Filmmakers' Pitch. But admissions closed May 15.

Last but not least, Cannes will also see the unveiling of the first issue of “Le Scénario Français” a new quarterly in French (mostly) that features articles and pitches - including contributions from yours truly.

Relevant links:
UGS-Online
Adami
UK Film Centre
Le Scénario Français

If you hear of any other events, please leave a message. Article lifted from Screenplay Europe

Priest intends to protest "Da Vinci Code" at Cannes

The list of people demonstrating at Cannes has gone up again. This time, a priest is involved. The subject, needless to say, is the film version of "The Da Vinci Code", the premise of which has been hotly disputed by religious circles and scholars for some time already. Fr. Bernard Francis Heffernan will stage a peaceful demonstration using two large screens to promote a festival of religious music. "The Da Vinci Code never shocked or fooled anyone who knows the history of Christianity. But what shocked them was how it could dupe the religious illiterates on this pagan planet," says Heffernan. During the festival, Fr Bernard will be at the Notre Dame church practically opposite the festival's Palais.

Will my phone work at Cannes?

This must be one the most-frequently asked questions that we hear about Cannes. The answer is simple: maybe! To simplify the debate, you should know that just about all of Europe works on 900 and 1800 frequencies. If your phone works on either (or hopefully both), then you're OK. If not, you'll have to buy or rent one locally. This is not a major cost these days.

Then there is the more complicated issue of cost. Although local calls are relatively cheap in Europe, international roaming calls can be very expensive - particularly if you intend to use the phone a lot. Remember that if you are using your non-French phone number in Cannes, every call is an international call. Even when you ring a restaurant in Cannes. You will also find yourself calling people on German, British and Spainsh numbers. Plus, ALL incoming calls will cost you money. So it might be worth picking up a French pre-paid card and number. If possible, ask someone local to buy one beforehand. That way you can send this number to your contacts before you hit town. Another advantage with a local number is that your calls will have priority if there's a bottleneck. This is not something I've really experienced, however.

To find a list of pre-paid providers, click over to PrePaid GSM. One other thing you should bear in mind is the validity of the card after you stop using it. If you only come once a year, you can go for a short validity. If you attend any other events such as MIPTV, MIPCOM or MIDEM, you might want to keep a card with a longer shelflife. That way you can at least keep the same number for every time you are in France. The cards with the longest validity are currently Omer Telecom, Virgin and NRJ Mobile. The three biggest players, Bouygues, SFR and Orange, have shorter validities.

Other services you might consider: Fonquest and TravelSIMshop

If you are just dropping down for a day or two, I don't think it's worth the hassle. Stick with your usual number and just foot the bill.