Cannes Journal: Wednesday

Wednesday morning, Kit woke early and bought baguettes and croissants from the local boulangerie. I made coffee and set out our breakfast. Kit and Cherry had a meeting with Taiwan films later in the morning, and I had to meet up with Renee to give her her festival badge. We ate and got ready and took a van to the Palais.

I handed Renee her bag and the badges for the rest of our group. Eric and Sonia had yet to arrive. Renee and I tried to secure invitations to various screenings before I met up again with Kit and Cherry. I called Angela to thank her for her previous help in trying to find an extra berth for the festival. Jean had arrived, and she invited me to have lunch with them at Pastis. I texted Cherry to let her know where I was going and set off for the restaurant.

I had just sat down when Cherry called me to tell me they were on their way. Megumi and Angela were at the table, and shortly Courtney arrived. I caught up with Jean and then Cherry and Kit arrived. Jean told them she was thinking of doing a story on them, and we tried to coordinate schedules.

After lunch it was back to the Marche for more meetings. I walked along the Croisette and wrote postcards. When Kit and Cherry were done we went back to the hotel to change. Back at the festival, we had drinks at the Hotel Martinez. Kit was hoping to meet Stanely Tong, but he was meeting with a producer. Stevie called to tell us he had an extra invite to the China 100 Years of Film party. Cami had told us she could help get us into the party as well. I left to meet Stevie on the Croisette, and ran into Eric, Sonia, and Renee. Kit and Cherry soon followed and we waited for Cami. Soon a group of us had gathered, and then Cami appeared to usher us in on the side.

We milled about and got plates of food. Zhang Ziyi arrived for a second, ushered past us by a huge entourage. After she stood on stage for a moment she was ushered out. At the party, we met John Woo. Michelle Yeoh appeared looking more beautiful in real life than in the movies. Christopher Doyle spent some time talking to Renee. Stevie arranged an interview for Kit with TVB.

After the party we went back to the hotel to get a miniDV clip of Kit's film. TVB needed one for their broadcast. We asked the cab driver to wait for us, and he agreed. Cherry went upstairs to find the tape and Kit and I chatted with the driver. He was incredibly knowledgable about film. He regaled us with film history and told us that all the directors who show in the Director's Fortnight become the major directors of the future. He listed Truffault and Tarrantino. He told us to do our research and to watch out for the names of the directors playing this year. In 5, 10, 20 years, he said, they'll be the top directors to watch.

After we delivered the tape, Kit called Stevie. He was in a MacDonald's around the corner. Mitchi was getting crepes nearby. She said they were the best crepes in Cannes. I bought a honey, lemon, and almond crepe and then we walked back to the apartment Stevie and Mitchi had rented for the festival.

The apartment was cute. Their roommates were still up and they opened a bottle of wine. We drank and ate and talked until one. Posted by eku at May 27, 2005 5:41 PM