DAY 1--Opening Ceremonies

Preface

            As soon as I was accepted into this program, I did some major research, like for instance, what exactly IS this festival? Well here’s what I got: “Founded in 1946, few film festivals are more prestigious—or selective than the Cannes Film Festival, formerly known as the International Film Festival. Attendance is by invitation only. What will a ticket get you? A seat with your favorite star, maybe. The rich and famous flood this festival unlike any other.” This right here is the image I had in my head for the past few months and now was becoming reality.

DAY 1 Wednesday May 17

After months of imagining what this would be like, the day has finally come. We were kind of thrown into this festival straight into the deep end, with tips from teachers and former Grady Cannes students and some blog posts on how to get around, but in actuality, we have absolutely no idea what the hell we are doing. We met with our two teachers these past couple days, and then they essentially said to us, “Okay, bye! See you next Monday after the festival!” We were on our own now. They gave us the schedule of the films and different activities for the 12 days, and we were off. 

We make it around on the first day, pretending like we know what we are doing, from the AmPav to a small 40-person theater all the way to a 2,500-person theater for the Opening Ceremonies and the world premiere of a film. Starting off with something on a lower level, we go to a smaller theater to see the film My Friend Dahmer. An amazing movie about the infamous Jeffery Dahmer’s childhood life. After this, we were kind of wandering to find food, but then decide to go the American Pavilion (still not sure exactly what this is yet), and we picked up our AmPav badges, and head on in. This place is like as American as it can get. Cheeseburgers, coffee, and Hollywood everything flood the place, with famous (I don’t know who they are tho) producers, directors, and “us” everywhere!

After going back to the apartment for a little while (this was the first day, so not a lot of stuff was going on), we came back in our gowns, in search of a ticket for the opening ceremony/premiere. The tickets for the red carpet are hard to get sometimes, but always possible. We stand outside of the palais, and within a half an hour, the four of us have tickets. We quickly ran down to the bag check and then realized when we were down there that the doors closed only in a few minutes. We ran up stairs and made it in time! Walking onto the red carpet was so surreal. The ushers generously move us along as we do our best to snap some pictures, which you actually aren’t really supposed to do. I realized why we couldn’t walk the entire red carpet—I looked back and saw women in giant elaborate gowns posing for the flashing press only a few feet from us. I kept my eye out for celebs, and I think I spot the one and only Julianne Moore in her beautiful red lace dress so close to me. I’m good, I just gotta keep moving. Our seats are on the balcony, so we make our way up.

Something really cool that happens that not a lot of people know about is they play footage live from the red carpet as the celebs and filmmakers continue to walk in. We sit there, adrenaline pumping as we spot Will Smith, Elle Fanning, Julianne Moore, Jessica Chastain, and others as they make their way to the room we are currently sitting in. The opening ceremony begins and this is such a beautiful production. Gold and silver lights and giant white fixtures twinkle behind as the big screen is pulled up for the show to begin. The host walks out and performs a French song with a few others. Neat. I have no idea what they are saying. The panel of judges sit to the right of the stage as they play quick “previews” of the films in competition. I was already excited for the next week to come, but now after this ceremony, even more so. Next there is a 20-minute intermission before the first premiere of Ismael’s Ghost. I somewhat enjoyed the film, but I think I had some first-film-bias because the reviews the next day were, well, harsh. During the final standing ovation, we make our way down to the front of the Balcony. The entire cast of the film we just saw, including Marion Cotillard, is standing right there. Talk about surreal. We just watched the premiere of their own movie WITH THEM! We exit the grand theatre alongside the rest of the crowd. I turn my head and spot a lady I had recognized from the red carpet when we first walked in. Trust me, the outfit and headpiece she was wearing: I would not forget. Then we realize we are walking out alongside everyone from the orchestra level (the big people). We exit the palais, and make a group decision to go to Steak and Shake in our gowns. Together, we eat our burgers while reflecting on this first night of our adventure to come.