Navigating the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22, 2011)

So you’re going to Cannes but you’re not an A-list actor, director, or agency exec with unlimited funds? Don’t have exclusive passes? Never been to the festival? Not to worry.

Here are a few basic tips that may help, including some suggestions for doing Cannes-on-a-budget and making the most of your film experience.

Food:
Restaurants hike up their prices at least two or three times the price you would pay for a meal any other week in Cannes. So if you’re going to splurge on any meal, dinner would be the best one. Breakfast is easy and cheap. You can stop by a small cafe and get a croissant and a cappuchino/coffee/orange juice. For lunch, there are sandwich and burger stands all over. There’s also a McDonald’s and a convenient fast food pasta place called Mezzo di Pasta which serves pasta in a pint-sized carton for around 5 or 6 Euro.

You can save a lot by buying water, beverages, and in-between meal snacks at Monoprix — a major French supermarket chain. Monoprix is kind of like a SuperTarget so you can also pick up any toiletry items or other random things at the store. It’s walkable from the Croisette, so ask around for directions.

Transportation:
From the Nice airport, cabs run about 80 to 100 Euro, which is doable if you are splitting the ride with a few others. But if you’re arriving solo, you may want to take the bus, which drops you off around the Croisette area and then take a cab to your hotel from there. You don’t have to buy the tickets in advance and the bus pick up is located right outside baggage claim. In Cannes, the local bus costs only one Euro, so if you have a chance, travel around the city and do some sightseeing.

Films:
While the competition films are high profile, they are only a small part of the actual festival when you’re talking about the number of films being screened, sold, and bought. Besides the Palais Grand Lumiere where all the major festival films premiere and the Salle de Bussey where the Un Certain Regard competition films premiere, there are many other theaters (Arcades, Star, Olympia, etc.) around the city screening films that are not in any competition but are looking for buyers and distributors.

Many of these theaters are walking distance from the Croisette and all are bus-able, so pick up a map of the area which should be included in a festival pamphlet and pick up a schedule of film screenings. The smaller theaters may have a stand where you can find a schedule.

Also Variety and Hollywood Reporter print dailies — daily issues made specifically for Cannes that contain the latest film reviews and the schedule of where and when films are screened each day, which can be found outside of some hotels or in the international Pavillion area. And always have a back up film. Even if you have a press pass or a market badge, some films get so much hype that the theater fills up, so it’s always nice to have an alternate plan.

Red Carpet Experience:
The red carpet, the photographers, the whole “brush with fame,” I think it’s a little over the top, but if you want to walk the red carpet once or twice you can. That is if you don’t mind being a beggar. Let me explain… Film industry insiders receive a huge allotment of film passes but they are busy making distribution deals. And since they get penalized for not using these passes, they have incentive to parcel them out to others.

That’s where you come in.

If you stand outside the Lumiere holding a sign asking (begging) for a ticket, the film industry fairies will swoop down and grant you a pass, which allows you to walk the red carpet and enter the Lumiere like a star. But note that if you’re going to an evening screening, dress is strictly formal. That means guys in tuxedos — white shirts, black pants, jacket, and tie — and women in evening gowns. The gowns don’t have to sweep the floor, but at the very least a black cocktail dress is necessary.

French:
Helpful but not necessary. This is a tourist town so lots of people speak English. Most of the theaters screen films in English, and the Lumiere and the Salle de Bussey both have English and French subtitles for non-English/French films. However, the French seem nicer when you at least try to speak a bit of the language so come armed with the basic “please” and “thank you’s” and you should get around OK.

And finally, enjoy the experience:
It’s not every day that you travel to a resort town on the French Riveria. So take in all that it has to offer — the beaches, parties, and the ultra-cheap wine. And tell us all about it when you get back!