Cannes Diary 2008

By: Tanuj Garg (from Cannes)

Cannes: Day 0

A month after being here for MIPTV (in April), I'm back in the scorching palm-lined seafront town of Cannes for the Cannes Film Festival, the biggest industry event of the year.

I flew out of Heathrow to Nice on Monday to get done with the registration and miscellaneous formalities before the bulk of the crowd descended yesterday. Besides, it's always good to be a tad early and dive into the mood and action to get into what I call 'The Cannes mode'.....

a. A chunk of the attention and hype is around the Steven Spielberg-created Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, which will premiere outside the main competition on Sunday, 18th May. No doubt the reviews will be online within minutes of the culmination of the screening though adverse review-leaks on the net (last Thursday) from anonymous theatre execs who saw the film last week at previews in the US has thrown some cold water on the excitement.

b. Among the posse of A-list Hollywood celebrities due to attend the event, there is a buzz that Madonna will be around while Robert De Niro will present the Palme d'Or at the closing ceremony on May 25. Troubled sports figures - Diego Maradona and Mike Tyson are also likely to attend, being subjects of new documentaries.

c. This year, there are more than 8,000 market participants from about 500 companies and 93 countries. The new countries hitting the Croisette this year include Macedonia, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Anguilla. The Palestinian territory will also be roped. Consequently, there is an even greater demand for market screenings, all of which is indicative of the huge amount of product being flogged at Cannes, year-on-year.

d. India has an even bigger representation at Cannes 2008, so much so that some of the leading trade dailies (Variety, Screen International, Hollywood Reporter, etc.) are coming up with special India spotlight pieces on different days.

Times are hard, recession is ripe, the market is overpriced and acquisition execs are becoming increasingly selective about the product they pick up, having to carefully and painstakingly examine a glut of screeners, brochures and sales pitches. The Euro has strengthened against the Dollar, making this edition of the festival more expensive for several attendees. Making matters worse, Sundance in January and Berlin in February recorded less-than-swift sales.

Will Cannes 2008 reverse this gloomy trend for sellers? With this big question, the worldwide film community embarks on the 61st Cannes today....

(Media and international business expert, Tanuj Garg, will do an honorary Cannes 2008 diary for Bollywood Hungama. This will feature periodic updates on the mood and the action on The Croisette over the next fortnight. Tanuj is currently Marketing & Distribution Head for the UK & Europe at Studio 18)