Posted on 05/10/2009 10:52:19 PM PDT by Cincinna
The stars will still turn up and the movie line-up looks good but the tone of the Cannes film festival will be more black and white than technicolor in 2009.
The credit crunch means Hollywood studios are tightening their belts and conspicuous consumption is temporarily out of fashion. Deal-making will go on but is likely to be more circumspect.
"You can feel people are more conservative, more selective," said Helen Lee Kim, president of Mandate International. "They are being more careful and not taking those big jumps as they might have last year."
The annual celebration of cinema in the south of France, famed for its wild beach parties, giant yachts and red carpets, opens on Wednesday with the premiere of "Up," an animated comedy from Disney that underlines the growing importance of 3D.
Then it is down to the serious business of the competition comprising 20 films by an impressive array of directors -- Jane Campion, Ang Lee, Ken Loach, Lars Von Trier, Michael Haneke, Pedro Almodovar and Quentin Tarantino.
Each day, two competition films are screened to critics and journalists before their red carpet premieres in the Grand Theater Lumiere, while directors and stars juggle interview schedules and photo calls with late-night partying.
Hundreds more movies are shown outside the main competition, many of them on the bustling market which is a less visible, yet vital part of Cannes' status as the world's top film festival.
On the plus side, Hollywood studios are enjoying a bumper box office in 2009 despite the global recession, and the dollar's relative strength will boost purchasing power.
But the protracted credit crunch, added to slowing DVD sales and depressed advertising, will cast a shadow over Cannes, both in terms of business and pleasure.
PARTIES Canceled, YACHTS EMPTY
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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The Cannes Film Festival opens Wednesday. It promises to be a low key event, compared to previous years. I will be posting reports, and pictures.
Tough work, but somebody's got to do it!
For anyone who has not visited Cannes, France, you should definitely make it a place to visit in your life time. It is beautiful and has many attractions...not necessarily the film festival but many other great things. Sadly I have not been there since 1994. I did go to Paris in November 2007 though.
Not to worry — the awards shows here in the United States, which invariably heap praise on partisan shills ruining the entertainment industry, will conspicuously swill down millions of dollars in wardrobe, services, and gifts, as always. Thanks Cincinna.
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