France: When in Cannes

This January I had the unexpected and absolutely amazing opportunity to attend a few screenings at the Sundance Film Festival. That incredible aligning of the planets resulted in one of the most memorable trips of my life in, that’s right, Utah.

So it seemed like a sign from above when I happened to land in the south of France on the very same day that the most prestigious movie industry event in the world – the Cannes Film Festival –began. Is someone up there trying to tell me something? Film criticism, anyone? While I didn’t have a chance to screen any films in Cannes, I did get a chance to observe the goings-on from a safe distance.

The highlights:

Actress Faye Dunaway was the face of this year’s festival. Posters featured the actress as she was in 1970 when photographed by Palme d’Or winner (1973) Jerry Schatzberg.

Bored paparazzi waiting outside the famous Carlton hotel, hoping for a glimpse of some starlet who might feign eating on the hotel restaurant’s patio.

Some would find Diet Coke’s launch of their designer series bottle by Karl Lagerfeld inconsequential. I found it fascinating, these ads that wrapped buildings all over France as if people actually knew who Lagerfeld was and cared (we are in France, aren’t we?!), but none were more expensively placed than here on the famous sea-front strip in Cannes.

The movie studios pushed their summer blockbusters with massive, hyper-engineered billboards and even a few small stage sets. The most insistent? Cars 2, Super 8, and Cowboys & Aliens. Why, Harrison Ford? Why?

Of course, the festival winners are going to be must-sees for movie buffs. On my list: “The Kid and the Bike,”“Melancholia” (yes, despite its loose-tongued, attention-seeking director), and “The Artist.”