My team was rooting for the British director Mike Leigh to win the Palme D’Or, but it wasn’t to be and Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul accepted the award with great humility, telling us how he only just succeeded in getting a plane out of Bangkok with smoke rising above the city from the political turmoil of recent weeks. He expressed hope that his award could inspire a period of cool water to soothe the heat of confrontation.
It all began with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett walking the red carpet on opening night for the world premiere of Ridley Scott’s ‘Robin Hood’ and proceeded through lunches, launches, press screenings and conferences and parties at a pace to test the most resolute person’s stamina.
Choices abound in Cannes. Former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher is on the beach to announce his role as co-producer of a film about the Beatles. At the same time on a nearby hotel terrace Bollywood star Mallika Sherawat is launching her new film ‘Hiss’ directed by Jennifer Lynch accompanied by a seven metre python weighing more than a hundred kilos.
Later on Fawaz Gruosi, the founder of the watch and jewellery company De Grisogono tells me he’s booked the British pop singer Cheryl Cole for a private performance at tonight’s party at the swanky Hotel du Cap. He invites me too and I’m soon alongside Naomi Campbell and Ivana Trump as the party pauses to unveil the latest Maybach while fireworks explode over the bay. Not to be outdone, Fawaz’s business rival and partner Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele has party plans of her own. As co-ceo of Chopard she designs the Palme D’Or Trophy and much of the jewellery sported by many models and actresses on the carpet each evening. This year Chopard celebrates its 150th anniversary so off I head to the VIP club in Cannes, where Caroline has asked me to go on stage to introduce her guest of honour and the musical entertainment, Lionel Richie. Next day I’m in the midst of a charity auction of dresses worn by Hollywood stars including Scarlett Johanssen, Demi Moore and Salma Hayek. Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz are bidding against Harvey Weinstein and Giorgio Armani, generously offering to buy back his own creations. Within half an hour this good-humoured ensemble has raised 400,000 USD for Sean Penn’s Haiti Relief charity. Outside the auction I’m soon setting up for a live report for CNN by B-Gan, a smart little satellite dish you can fit into a briefcase and used by correspondents in the field from Baghdad to Kabul – and now Cannes. Juliette Binoche, Woody Allen, Abbas Kiarostami, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Michael Douglas, Oliver Stone, Aishwarya Rai, Carey Mulligan and Shia LeBeouf all make appearances before the CNN camera in the days that follow. Not a Cannes to remember, eh? Hardly.
Myleene Klass hosts ‘The Screening Room’ each month on CNN International www.cnn.com/screeningroom
