Updated Cannes Advice

[Above: the lanyards from my two vists to Cannes, collected almost a decade apart.
I can't believe how fresh-faced I look on the first one!]

    Back in 2013, I went to the infamous Cannes Film Festival for the first time, and I did so somewhat sensibly; I had two short films to try and sell (Ashes and Stop/Eject had just been completed), so I organised a few meetings in advance, and I spent most of my time in the Marche du Film (Cannes' film market). Most of my meetings were scheduled during the mornings, so I went to bed early and got plenty of kip every day, waking up feeling refreshed and ready to talk about my work.

   But I then learnt that most of the deals - the really big deals - at Cannes are made at the late night parties. I did attend one early evening party hosted by Creative Scotland, which was fantastic, but as I'm not a big night person (and certainly not a party animal) I wasn't even aware of anything going on any later than that. And one of my random claims to fame is that, during my last time at Cannes, I ignored a phone call from one of my friends at 10pm - because I was already in bed - and missed out on the chance to meet Jean-Claude Van Damme as a result!

   So this year, when I made the last minute decision to return to Cannes, I decided to play things completed differently. My latest short, A Different Place, isn't quite completed, and my two features are only at the writing stage (if that), so I had nothing to sell; I didn't book any meetings in advance, instead deciding to just mingle and chat with the crowds, and try and build up my network in the process; above all, I wanted to force myself to experience the night life of Cannes, even though that's very much out of my comfort zone, to see what I missed last time.

  Some things went to plan, and some didn't. I had great company, which really helped, as I was joined this time by Michelle Darkin-Price, the wonderful lead actor from A Different Place (so I had plenty of opportunities to promote her as well as our film). But not only has the festival changed in the 9 years since I last went, the world itself has changed, and I very much witnessed the affects of Covid, Brexit, and life after the 2015 Paris bombings. It all felt unfamiliar, from the big (armed officers walking around) to the small (my European plug adapter no longer fits!).

   So here's my key learnings from my latest trip, all of which I thought would be useful to share:

Don't book too much on your first day - or arrive the day before the festival, if you can!

[Day One with Michelle]

   Last time I attended Cannes, when DOP (and Stop/Eject director) Neil Oseman recorded his video diaries, I went on camera saying 'don't get straight off the plane and come into Cannes' - and yet, I nearly ignored my own advice. Michelle and I arrived on the opening day of Cannes, catching a very early flight on 3 hours sleep, because it was the cheapest (Michelle also had a long drive to the London airport), and we got lost on the way to the festival; we were lugging heavy suitcases and queued in the heat for half an hour to collect our badges (more on that later); we then had a long hunt for the accommodation; so by the time we'd finally unpacked our bags, we were physically exhausted, and all our plans had to be put on hold while we listened to our bodies and recharged. No night life for us on day one!

   Of course, the next morning I met a filmmaker who had gone out that night, and claimed to have received funding offers for his feature as well as multiple party invites, so I immediately felt guilty and cross at myself for favouring an early night instead. On reflection though, I do think it's important to rest and recharge when you need to, particularly if - like me - you're not in your twenties anymore. So if you don't want to miss the excitement of opening night, the best thing is to arrive the day before the festival, and get all the business of lugging suitcases and locating your accommodation out of the way in advance.

  I will say though, our accommodation was excellent. For the first time ever, I paid a bit extra to stay closer to the festival, and we were able to make dinner there on two occasions, cutting down food costs as well as not needing to pay for buses every day.

Beat the queue system - but don't bring your suitcase!

   You should always factor a long queue time into your plans - particularly if you're arriving on opening day (like we did) or busy times like the first Friday of the festival, and you need to collect your badge. But this is one area that really changed since my last visit; in the aftermath of the 2015 Paris bombings, security is very very tight, with hand swabbing and full digital body scanning in place at every gate, whereas in 2013 I just had to have my handbag searched when I went inside the Marche (no searches outdoors back then). 

   As a result of these increased security measures, you're not allowed to take suitcases anywhere in the festival anymore - so we queued for 30 minutes, just to be told we'd need to leave and put our suitcases somewhere. (Luckily Michelle was able to sweet talk us back to the front of the queue again when we came back without our bags, but I don't know if everyone was so lucky).

   On the plus side, the suitcase deposit area is now free to use, whereas I think it was about €1 an hour last time. But they did also have increased security, which added extra time onto our day before we'd even collected our badges.

   It was only after we finally collected our badges that we spotted a self service badge machine! I don't know if this only works for pay-as-you-go type badges, rather than ones you book in advance, but it's worth noting that there were no queues around this machine at all. It's the first time the festival has offered it, and not everyone is aware of it, so it's definitely a quicker option.

The networking

  As before, the UK Pavillion provided a perfect place to catch our breath and meet people (the best connections I made all week were there, which wasn't the case last time). You can still get free Tea Pigs tea and WiFi - although, as with last time, the connection speed wasn't great when everyone was using it. There were also some tablets towards the entrance where you could search through the delegates database and book one-on-one meetings with UK attendees, which is definitely useful knowledge for my next visit.

   But this year, as I said, we also planned to hit the town after dark - and that was certainly a good way to meet people, as we spotted Cannes badges around necks in every part of the town! We made a good connection at a local cafe, and the famed La Petite Majestic is clearly still a popular meeting spot for Cannes attendees as it was full of festival-goers - although unfortunately, when I started to make conversation with a couple of them, we soon realised they didn't speak any English. (I meant to try La Petite Majestic again another night, but never got round to it).

   To guarantee English-speaking connections, someone recommended we tried Cannes' three Irish bars - Ma Nolan's, Morrison's, and The Quays - and we visited them all in one night! Because these were sports bars, there was a game on TV and they were full of patrons as a result, including many with Cannes badges. However, we soon started to notice that we were the only women in there, as well as being the only ones not openly interested in sports, and there was more than one occasion where this made me feel a little uncomfortable, like we were in unfamiliar territory - and not in a good 'step outside your comfort zone' way. The big takeaway here is that, next time I attend Cannes, I'll do so in a mixed-sex group. We shouldn't have to do that to feel safe, not in the twenty-first century, but unfortunately it's still something I feel I have to recommend.

[Above: me and Michelle, somewhat windswept and squinty but LOVING the unfamiliar heat!]

Pavilions Post-Brexit

   This was the first time I'd traveled abroad as a non-European citizen, which is definitely not something I chose to do, and it caused adverse affects on multiple occasions - particularly when we were going through the airport, moving at a snail's pace through the 'all other passports' queue and enviously watching the European passport-holders swimming past us.

  But the biggest disappointment for me was the fact that I could no longer go in the European Pavilion. Last time, somewhat obviously, we were allowed in both the UK and European Pavilion, and we found the European Pavilion to be bigger and filled with the type of industry professionals you wouldn't usually meet. This time, when we asked if we could go in, we were met by a 'no' and a very harsh look. (I can't really blame them for that, I'm not particularly fond of my country right now either!).

   It is a good idea to visit other pavilions, as there's no point travelling to France and just mingling with people you'd meet back home. If you can organise a meeting with a member of another Pavilion, they will let you in for the duration of your meeting. You can also buy day passes to the American Pavilion; it isn't cheap, I think it was around £20 a day, but it did sound like they had some fantastic events on in there.

RIP The Short Film Corner - and the Cannes bag!

  Obviously the festival hadn't happened in 2020, and this year was the first time they were back to full capacity - but we noticed a few empty booths as a result, particularly in the basement, where half of the floor appeared to be closed off. This was the area where I spent most of my time in 2013, as it contained the dedicated 'Short Film Corner' where I had sales meetings, attended happy hours, and blagged a space at an inspiring talk with Jane Campion.

   This year, the Short Film Corner had been allocated a much smaller space - and the whole time we were there, it wasn't open at all. I kept going back to check because, although I'm trying to move away from shorts, I was keen to find festival programmers for A Different Place. By my last day, the Short Film Corner still was't open, and the space had been given away to a speed-pitching event for people trying to buy the film rights to French novels. That event was advertised as lasting the whole weekend, so I don't know if the Short Film Corner ever came back, as we flew home on the Friday evening.

   The other thing missing this year was the Cannes goodie bag! The festival had announced this change in advance, but I didn't read my emails properly, and so I left plenty of space in my hand luggage for it. We did get posters on our arrival, and handy things like maps and booklets, but the printed programme and the bag had both been discontinued for environmental reasons. That's admirable, but there were multiple times when we needed a bag to put our various fliers and leaflets in; so if you don't bring a shopping bag with you, the only option is to buy a Cannes bag from the gift shop - some of which cost €25!

Cannes' Shifting Focus

   The shunned Short Film Corner wasn't the only example of Cannes changing what they cared about; in spite of the festival's history (it celebrated its 75th anniversary this year), they were clearly focused on modern and futuristic filmmaking methods. TikTok was an official sponsor - we saw banners and content creators capturing footage all around the badge collection queue - and there were VR zones set up in the Marche. I also attended a seminar on how productions could be funded through NFTs, Bitcoin, and via Web3 platforms. I hadn't heard of most of these things and I didn't understand it all, but all the speakers were very excited and optimistic, so clearly it's a potential direction the industry is going to go in.

[Above: The Directors Fortnight premiere of God's Creatures]

Navigating the Schedule

   Although I wasn't given a printed schedule this year, I was given access to a digital one. I was a little disappointed by how few events were on there, as the talks I attended last time were one of the highlights of the festival for me. The pavilions did each have their own events programmed, details of which the UK Pavilion sent out to me via their mailing list (or you can ask what's on at the desk, the staff there are mega friendly and will give you any information you need), but these didn't even start until Thursday - two days after we arrived.

   Looking back at the 2013 Cannes, the best events weren't actually advertised in advance. I actually only caught the Jane Campion talk because one of the staff recommended we 'stuck around' for a bit. And as the festival went on, even after we left, we saw more and more things being announced on the days that they happened. I'm not certain why this is but, either way, when you're in attendance at the festival, keep your ear out and ask for updated talk schedules at the start of every day!

   In terms of booking to watch films, which wasn't my biggest priority (I didn't catch any last time, apart from Jaws on the beach screen), that caused some complications as well. A lot of people struggled with the online gateway crashing, and the festival even launched a new digital platform half way through the festival to get around the issue. I also couldn't find a way to auto-fill my username and password on the online booking page - which isn't ideal when you need to grab tickets speedily - but no one else seemed to have that issue. (Quick tip, your log-in details are on your badge, which is much easier to locate than an old email!)

   I was pretty gutted to learn that the films I most wanted to see (Crimes of the Future and Elvis) weren't screening until after Michelle and I had flown home, even though the films all have multiple screenings. So we set about finding something else to watch, which was tricky with the online booking system, as it didn't show any thumbnails and the information was minimal. Michelle had had the forethought order the physical programme in advance, although she had to pay for it, and that included extra information about the films (as well as photographs!).

   Once you've chosen a film to watch, there's also no guarantee you'll even get a ticket; most were sold out in advance, and the few times tickets became available again, they'd often be gone by the time I'd made my selection.

   We ended up seeing God's Creatures, an indie film with a female producer/director team that was released by A24. It was a nice experience because the cast and crew were sat just in front of us, including Emily Watson - and it was good to sit down for a bit! But the tickets caused further confusion, as many people were told to sit in any empty seats, but others had booked their seats, which resulting in a lot of disgruntled shuffling ahead of the film starting. For us personally, we only had to move once, so it wasn't too bad.

   And for those of you who aren't able to access the online booking system at all, you are allowed to do the old-fashioned thing and queue up by the back entrance for empty seat announcements. We saw long lines of people in suits and posh frocks every day; apparently some people queued for 8 hours outside the Top Gun: Maverick premiere!

  (Speaking of Top Gun, we did get to see some of the red carpet - but we arrived fifteen minutes early and didn't have the best view, as the streets were already swarming with local fans by that point. If you want a really good view of the stars, it's recommended you get there at least an hour early!)

[Above: Our 'view' of the Top Gun: Maverick red carpet!]

Choose your wingmen wisely!

   As well as travelling in a mix of genders, as I mentioned earlier, I also cannot stress enough how important it is to have a mix of personalities within your group. Attending Cannes with Michelle was fantastic because she's very social and helped start conversations at times when I felt more reclusive (actors tend to be good in networking situations), whereas, because it was my second time coming to Cannes, I brought a knowledge of the festival to the table, telling Michelle where and what everything was, and explaining what a few of the more obscure job titles were. Last time I went, I was the 'festival virgin', whereas Neil had been four times by that point, so that partnership also worked well.

   It's also important to have someone in your group who speaks French!! I don't know how far I would've got without Neil in 2013, or Michelle this year, as they both speak pretty good French, at least at a level to order things and get us to the places we need to be. But both years, I caused issues when ordering food and ended up with the wrong thing!

The parties

  So, how did the mission to get a party invite go this time? In truth, not great - although I did talk to another filmmaker who managed to gate crash one where Madonna was performing! I also saw photos of someone I know on a boat party, which really are the holy grail of impossible venues at Cannes.

   In spite of our days and nights of networking, the multiple pub visits and pavilion chats, Michelle and I didn't go to a single party. I was emailed a couple of invites in advance, but those parties were - once again - after we'd left. We did manage to receive one invite during the festival itself, which was actually for one of the biggest parties around, but we turned it down for reasons I won't go into on this already-too-long blog post.

   I'd always been told that, in order to get party invites, you just need to talk to everyone you can, at any occasion or any time of night. It didn't even occur to me that this process might have changed in the near-decade since I last went to Cannes! In this modern world, there is a much easier and safer way of finding out about the parties. It turns out there's a Cannes WhatsApp group, where people share news of any events they hear about. We didn't know about this group until our second-to-last day, but if we had been aware of it in advance, it would've saved us a lot of time and hassle!

  Another good tip (which I also heard too late) is to research which companies are at Cannes, and email them ahead of the festival to find out when their parties are, and if you can get an invite. These organisations all want their parties to be a swinging success, so as long as you're an industry fellow, they're not likely to turn you down. It wouldn't even take much research to find these people; as I said before, I attended the Creative Scotland party in 2013, so it would've been easy enough for me to email them and ask if they were hosting one again (turns out they were, but not until after Michelle and I had flown home!). I'm also on the mailing list for WIFTV and Raindance, both of which announced their parties in advance - if only I'd thought to look! 

   Lesson well and truly learnt. Moving forward, there is absolutely no reason to chat to strangers in bars in order to get party tickets!

   And if, after you've followed all those steps, you still don't manage to get party tickets, Cannes does offer other opportunities to drink-n-mingle. The Short Film Corner happy hour may be a thing of the past, but the Scandinavian Film councils host one - I think it's every day - where they take over a whole building near to the Palais des Festivals. There's plenty of free drinks and absolutely loads of people there to network with! There was also a very enthusiastic Mexican production company (Agavia Studios) with a booth in the Marche who handed out free Tequila (and pens!) to happy passers-by.

Taking all the above into account: when is the best time to attend? (AKA how to avoid FOMO!)

   When I booked my trip, the schedule hadn't been released, so I just picked a week which worked for my schedule. I thought it would be nice to catch the opening night buzz (although, as I said, we ended up missing it!), and I'd always been told that week one was better than week two. If you're going to the festival for meetings, as I did last time, then that's still true; it's better to arrange meetings in the early days when companies still have their energy and all their money to spend, but leave it too late and they'll be run down as well as potentially having their sales targets met.

   But if you're going to the festival to catch films, then it definitely seems as though the biggest ones are programmed in the second week - such as Crimes of the Future and Elvis. I don't if that will be the case every year, but it certainly was in 2022. The few events I was aware of also seemed to be scheduled in the second week, such as the 'Rendez-vous' with Alice Rohrwacher, Mads Mikkelsen and Javier Bardem, among others. The Tuesday after I left, Cannes also hosted a 'future of film' panel with directors including Guillermo del Toro, one of my absolute heroes, so I was completely gutted to have missed that. It doesn't seem to have been announced in advance, not widely at least, so it's another example of just having to be there at the festival when things happen.

   However, if your main goal is parties, then you definitely want to arrive for the weekend, in the middle of the festival. The Friday before we left was absolutely heaving with new attendees, one of which informed me that directors and producers often arrived for the Creative Scotland party - which was taking place that weekend, along with the Raindance party, an amazing casting event Michelle liked the look of, and numerous others. We heard this news and then moped off into our taxi to the airport...

   So if you're going with a certain goal in mind, plan your visit wisely - but really, the best way to attend Cannes seems to be to go for the whole thing. That way you can pace yourself, resting when you need to but also jumping on any opportunities that are announced last minute. Obviously there's a cost implication involved, as well as a matter of managing your schedule, so not everyone can justify attending Cannes for two weeks. All I know is that, since getting back home I've had one eye on Cannes social media feed, watching them post about all the things (and people!) I would've liked to have seen, and it's somewhat of a downer!

*

   There's much more I could talk about (such as the humidity - I learnt the hard way that I should carry a mini Frizz Ease on me at all times!), but I think I've rambled on for long enough. So much of the festival has changed since my long-ago last visit, but the excitement of being there and the sense of grandeur still feels the same. 

   From both my trips, both of which had very different approaches, I've learnt such valuable lessons. The key takeaways this time are: research official parties in advance, travel in a group of mixed sexes and personalities, embrace technology (such as the badge machine and the WhatsApp group - not so much the ticket booking service!), and to try and stay for the full two weeks if you can, but definitely lose the suitcases and have a power nap before heading to the festival!

   And most of all, whether or not you speak to lots of people at Cannes, it only takes one or two important encounters to make the whole trip feel worth while. I have a lot of follow up to do (I write notes on business cards when they're first given to me, then email people the week after the festival to give them time to get home and recover), so I'll be jumping on that next. I'm excited to move forward and hopefully attend Cannes again next year with new knowledge and contacts under my belt.

Sophie

p.s. One tip from my 2013 blog post is still worth heeding. Dress memorably! I started wearing hair feathers and/or feathered earrings to networking events ever since my last Cannes trip, as a way of standing out; this year, one producer noticed and complimented my feathers, and we ended up having a good chat as a result! So definitely find your thing which make people go "oh yes, you were that person" - particularly when they talk to so many people every day of the festival.