I’ve been Cannes-ing for over 20 years (my maiden visit was in ’92), and I’ve never encountered such persistent difficulty in gaining access to this or that elusive screening. The system works fine, and then it gets all moody and listless and doesn’t work.
Yes, I’ve booked a couple of dozen tickets through the online system, but now there may be another stall-out happening. Yesterday The Hollywood Reporter reported that an internet collapse had occured. Our home wifi system is currently working, but it wasn’t for a long while, and my blood pressure is pounding.
Plus over the last couple of hours the ticket office site won’t let me log in. I’ve been able to log in but I can’t get past the access button. On top of which there may be some kind of new citywide internet happening. Or at least as far as my two and my iPhone computers are concerned. Okay, now it’s working (4:30 pm) but who knows what will happen a couple of hours from now?
I’ve been coming to Cannes as a credentialed journalist since ’92, and steadily for the last 20-odd years. I’ve never had to deal with any level of difficulty in merely obtaining access to this or that screening. It’s kind of awful. In the old days (2019 and before) you could just show up and get in line, and 97 times out of 100 you’d get in, even with a blue pass.
During the random times the system has been functioning (it was working fine yesterday) I’ve been completely unable to book a ticket for George Miller‘s Three Thousand Years of Longing. There has never been a doorway of any kind. Miller is a major filmmaker. Yes, the fact that Longing is being screened out of competition may indicate something, but the fact remains that I’ve flown thousands of miles and gone to great expense to be here, and the doors to George’s film are bolted shut.
I’ve written a couple of DDA publicists for last-minute help in getting a ticket to today’s Grand Lumiere screening at 6:30 pm. (Three hours from now.) Yes, I’m aware that there’s a makeup screening tomorrow at the Cineum IMAX, but that’s way the hell over in Cannes La Bocca (13 Av. Maurice Chevalier, 06150 Cannes). The Grand Lumiere screening would so so much more convenient.
I’ve pretty much decided not to attend this festival again unless they abandon the online ticketing system. Life is way too short, and this infernal system is just too much trouble. And I don’t want to hear any reader complaints about this crap. It’s not me — it’s them.
