French Film Student and Journalist
Robin Gatto

Upon arriving at the Cannes Film Festival back in 1998, my first thought must have been "Well, it's like the Gardanne Film Festival, but a little bit bigger, and there is Sigourney Weaver, Winona Ryder and Martin Scorcese." My two friends, mere movie students, had come to Cannes with two specific goals : do as many interviews as possible (maybe of a few American stars along the way) and sneak into the Festival's private night bashes to have some fun.

Two goals which required a true samurai discipline and some wit to boot. To our surprise and satisfaction, these two goals were achieved without too many difficulties. On the first day, we managed to snatch images of Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder talking behind bay windows, a opportunity which made us feel like both happy and ashamed paparazzi.

To get into the parties is no big deal. You send an éclaireur (a scout) in first and he or she does one's best to persuade the host to let friends come in.

Yet, there are parties much harder to get into. The Canal + party is one of these. You have to wear a special sign, a "Sesame" to be ushered in.

I remember that in 1998 it was a red bracelet, like one of these you sometimes wear at the swimming pool to get your clothes back (a very good comparison when it comes to parties, but you don't always get your clothes back, do you ?) As none of us had such a bracelet, we met with the guard's strong opposition and were reduced to patiently waiting outside the Palm Beach hoping that someone might hand us a bracelet or two sooner or later. v Then suddenly, something unexpected happened (which is a Cannes rule anyway). A beautiful tall blond woman who was walking out of the party jumped at me, embraced me very sensually, feigned to kiss me under the ears and whispered to me softly: "here's a bracelet for you... " I learned later that the woman belonged to the Cannes Troma team, which I had talked to a little bit.

But the guards who are accustomed to all sorts of party-crashers could not be fooled. Moreover it was difficult to put on the bracelet without damaging it, which showed that it had already been used by someone else. So the guards would not let us enter and we just waited for an additional half hour. Until they softened their attitude to us and decided to let us get inside the party. But they did it in a rather mischievous way, telling us :"If your friend can put on the bracelet without damaging it, we'll let you come in..."

I took up this naughty challenge and managed not to damage the bracelet, so that we could finally join the party, which was still going full swing. That is probably when I realized the difference between watching a Theo Angelopoulos movie and attending a Canal+ party.

The final night of the festival proved the most fruitful moment for doing interviews. The best moment is really when all the prestigious guests, whether from the jury or peripheral to the festival, come out of or go to the l'Oreal closing dinner.

That is when I managed to do an interview with Sigourney Weaver, before she entered the l'Oreal tent. She was standing still right in front of me, waiting for something, and I did not hesitate. I put on my best English voice and attracted her attention. To see her walk towards me with a smile on her face will probably remain the best recollection of my young journalistic days.

However hard we tried to get a few words from the president of the Jury, Martin Scorcese, all we could get from him was a few words which we will never forget: "Sorry I can't", as he was rushing to his Festival car surrounded with his bodyguards.