cannes 2010

Cannes Snapshots: Beyond the Red Carpet

The Cannes Film Festival isn’t just about red-carpet looks and glamorous premieres — it’s only mostly about that stuff. But behind the Grand Theatre Lumiere, there’s a raging film market where international distributors make deals for movies you’ll never see (Sylvester Stallone goes Bollywood?), a dizzying series of international tents where countries promote their filmmakers, terrible celebrity impersonators, and a gaggle of intense fans who descend on the Croisette pleading for spare movie tickets — and, in one case, offering up “ma virginite” for entrance. To give you a sense of the world beyond the paparazzi bulbs, we wandered the periphery and took some snapshots.

Missed the red carpet? No worries! Just tape the TV.
True fans bring their own stepladders.
While Tim Burton headed the jury, his wife Helena Bonham Carter reigned over the streets outside.
Oh my God! I saw Helen Mirren! (She’s in pink.)
Screenings on the beach are unfortunately programmed in the same time slot as the parties (note: empty seats).
Now introducing the star of the horror film Rubber: this tire.
The view from the back of the Hotel du Cap, where the most glam parties take place.
Outside the theaters, handsome men offer up their virginity for film tickets.
She’s considering it.
The busy Marche, where deals for films begin in the basement. There you will find posters galore for a riot of movies, from the latest David Cronenberg to the worst straight-to-DVD junk.
Literally throwing everything against a wall to see what will stick.
Downstairs, you can even test-drive a seat for your theater.
Or learn all about film distribution with this handy-dandy chart. Child’s play!
You can also check out films with completely unintelligible titles.
“Stallone Goes to Bollywood!” What could possibly beat that?
Oh: Kylie Minogue with A.R. Rahman.
I’d see this.
The tagline? “Earthworms have rhythm too.”
At first, I thought they were vampires …
Nothing sells sex like the Christian cross.
Hitler Goes Kaput!
This is a new movie. Really.
Okay, the Cubans officially win the cool poster contest.
We can hardly wait.
Hasselhoff. Ninjas. Dancing.
Great line for a horror film, actually. The film is called Mad Cow.
Yes, there are major films down in the Marche too.
Best-worst poster of the festival: “100 Years later. Lightning Strikes Twice.”
There are also lots of impersonators. None terribly convincing.
Except for this dude. Who looked exactly like Han Solo.
And now that the festival is over and everyone needs a break from all that exhausting quality: Cannes locals can walk directly across the street from the Palais to the Olympia, a mainstream movie house screening Freddy, Iron Man 2, and L’Elite de Brooklyn.
Cannes Snapshots: Beyond the Red Carpet