Cannes in a Van Film Festival 2013: blog 7

Day 7

After the unfortunate events that took place the night before, we were all eager to get the van back in working order. The afternoon was spent rushing between various electrical shops in the hope that they would have the right kit we needed. With our little-to-no knowledge on how to fix an inverter (which is what makes everything tick), Andy and Ross had to work some magic. Following the purchase of multiple fuses, a long, drawn-out dismantle, a long drawn-out assemble and consequent second blow-out, we needed a plan-B.

’1,600 euros to buy a new 2000-watt inverter?! You’re JOKING!’, we exclaimed to a hungry-for-tourist-dollars retailer. After careful consideration we made a decision to wing it with some smaller-fry tech and as if luck would have it, everything worked fine. Problem solved.

Now the weather was on our side and we were raring to go. We headed down and grabbed a tight little spot outside the Grand Hotel and proudly displayed our recently installed sexy velvet inertia.

We’d been approached a few nights back by a French filmmaker called Olivier Lavielle who was looking to showcase his short film Soeur d’Arme. When we arrived he and his crowd found us immediately. We passed around some wine and screened the movie to a growing audience. The movie went down well and along with Olivier’s film we also screened French indie director Pierre Henniquant’s short entitled Dereglement.

Both films drew in a good crowd but it wasn’t until we screened Israeli filmmaker Yanai Yaakov Lein’s debut short film The Hidden Spring that we witnessed such a positive response. The film won Best Short Film at the Haifa International Film Festival and you can see our interview with the director elsewhere on the site. Luckily for Yanai, who had already spent his day meeting and greeting producers out of Israel, he even touched one audience member enough for them to reward him with 50 € as well as the promise of a meeting back in Israel (best of luck to Yanai).

We highly recommend that you check out Yanai’s film as it illuminates not only his spiritual side but also his cool contemporary edge. You can watch the trailer on Vimeo and help support him in his future endeavours by spreading the word.

Following the over-flow of audience members (the night appeared to be our busiest yet) we began to screen some of our own home grown indie shorts including Russell Owen’s Anglesey Road.

Later as the night was winding down, a documentary crew swooped upon Ross. The film focuses on whether or not the Cannes Film Festival is about art or celebrity. There was a lot to discuss as it seems in recent years the festival has focused its energy on the more superficial side of cinema (i.e. one hotel being decked to the halls in Hunger Games branding)

We began to pack up with smiles on our faces and Grandmaster Flash on the stereo, only to have the police once again ask us to turn down the volume. “This isn’t the first time,” one remarked.

I doubt they’ll find it amusing a third time.