Cannes Film Festival topper Gilles Jacob's hesitance to make up his mind about films for this year's 49th edition kept the industry in suspense up until the 22 April announcement. The downside was that a growing number of industrialists felt taken hostage by a festival director who, they claim, has got no consideration for the business side of the event. This at a moment when a new régime at the Marché International du Film (MIF) has started to make significant efforts to turn Cannes into a more efficient and user-friendly marketplace.
Even Los Angeles, a town used to having its own way with the international film community, has been put on edge by Jacob's late call.
Particularly badly hit is the town's close knit PR and marketing community which has to pull campaigns together and work on the logistics of getting supporting talent to-and-from the Croisette. They are expecting a few sleepless nights before they arrive in Cannes to set up.
'The problems just begin with Jacob,' said an LA-based sales agent who, for obvious reasons, wished to remain anonymous, but whose views pretty much mirror the feelings pooled by Moving Pictures not just accross LA, but around the world.
'By delaying his announcement the effect trickles down through every other section of the festival and then on into the market. We have a film that has a slim shot at a Directors' Fortnight berth, but its chances very much depend on what Jacob keeps for himself from the US offering. If we miss out on Directors' Fortnight then we are going to have to re-juggle our screening schedule and ad campaign."
"The decisions about selection are now left so late it is impossible for us to plan our marketing," added Film Four International's director of sales Bill Stephens, stating that the company is now "looking for other markets later in the year" to launch films such as Gillies MacKinnon's Trojan Eddie, Nancy Meckler's Indian Summer, Mark Herman's Brassed Off and Ken Loach's Carla's Song - Venice, Toronto, Tokyo or San Sebastian?
"It's very frustrating for everyone and puts huge pressure on creating marketing campaigns, on subtitling, on publicity..." said Beyond Films' general manager Gary Hamilton. "But in their defence," he added, "I know that Australian films are generally very late; if we could show [the festival] our films earlier, we'd get an earlier decision."
If there was a suspicion that some companies have been tipped off by the festival, most of them were not talking. Even friendly inquiries were met with a wall of silence or at best a 'let's wait and see what Mr. Jacob has to say on the 22nd!'
At least Jacob could count on some sympathy back home. "It's normal that the announcement takes place just a few weeks prior to the festival," said a French executive. "There used to be more leaks, however. But the festival made it clear that they do not appreciate this. Jacob wants to reintroduce the suspense element up until the last minute." "Everything gets later and later," said Paris-based world sales agent Jeanine Seawell. "I'm concerned about how to get everything down in Cannes in time."
If Jacob wanted to put the fear of God into the sales companies, he has succeeded although the talk of the town is not only what Jacob might of picked but those he had to turn down because the talent could not make the trip, for one reason or another, to the Palais' red carpet. The lethargic response to last year's festival and the heavy guns who turned out for Berlin, have clearly stung the festival topper and made him more determined than ever to deliver a star studded and exciting festival that stands above all others.
While Berlin benefits from the early year European roll out of major studio titles, the same is not true for Cannes which now tends to clash with more populist summer fare much of which is action driven rather than character - read 'star' - driven.
© 1996 - MOVING PICTURES INTERNATIONAL
