HAS Cannes, everyone looks the same. Blame it on tuxedos and evening dresses. Finally, everyone looks the same until the moving moment at the end of the evening, when, going up the rue d’Antibes, everyone goes their separate ways. Some head to the four-star hotel Le Gray d’Albion, where a room awaits them, others head to a shared studio sublet behind the railway tracks. Behind the equality of the tuxedo, the inequality of the mattress.
The Cannes Film Festival is a place of permanent humiliation – everyone can find themselves treated better than themselves. This is evident in the color of accreditation badges, in access to parties, in the perimeter of the VIP area of the main hall screenings, but nowhere more clearly than in the place where one is accommodated. You can be in a tuxedo and sleep on the carpet of a studio, at the foot of a triple-occupied Clic-Clac.
This standard of real influence in the world of cinema is observed from one room to another. The sleeping plans reveal the reality of the organizational charts: who is entitled to a room, who sleeps in the hallway, who curls up in the space that serves as an office and will be woken up by the first meetings.
The demand is so high and the prices are so exorbitant that these ten days are an opportunity to see people endure situations that they would never accept elsewhere. As evidenced by this ad found on a Facebook group renting “a place in a double bed in a shared apartment”.
How do we recognize them?
They think that with their profession – photographer, actor, film-loving student – they will have no trouble finding a corner of mattress. They finally struggle. They imply that they are accredited or informed of upcoming parties in the belief that this will increase their chances of being accommodated. If they are staying in Nice or Théoule-sur-Mer, they only confide it to their very close friends. They spend part of the evening looking for who has the key to the studio entrance hall. They get up in the morning stepping over bodies.
How they speak
“When you’re young, you’re ready to sleep on the beach. » « Unfortunately the apartment only has double beds. » “It’s not far by train. » “I’m a makeup artist and it’s important to be close to my clients. » “I know I’m starting this a little late but…” “You shouldn’t have to change apartments in the middle of the Festival, it ruins a day and you’re walking around with your suitcase. » “If you come and leave by night train, you save two nights. » “As I was pregnant, they let me have the sofa bed. » “If you’re behind the ring road, you’re screwed. » “The problem is the weekend, because everyone goes down, including those who don’t need to be there. » “The most chic thing for the French is to have a room at the Gray d’Albion, for the Americans at the Carlton and for the have-you-seen at the Majestic. » “I have fifteen Turks from the film crew arriving, how do I accommodate them? » “We could take just one bed for the agents who go to bed at 6 a.m. and the salespeople who get up at 6 a.m. » “Ring the bell, I’ll open it for you.” »
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