Cannes By Day: Days 2 & 3 | Arts

As I write this at 3 a.m. with about three hours of sleep (thanks, 8 hours of screenings!), I can’t help but think of the many ways Cannes has been a dream so far. Of course, we’ve had our struggles – largely because having a yellow press badge means most of our time is spent waiting, whether it’s for first screenings or for those coveted celebrity interactions – and, of course, the massive sleep deprivation of the past two days is sure to only get worse (Joy is on her 85th cup of travel coffee, and I’m just exaggerating a little). But we have also already had some truly life changing opportunities!

I saw ‘Annette’ Simon Helberg (famous for playing Howard Wolowitz in ‘Big Bang Theory’) yesterday while exploring the rooms my modest yellow press badge can access at the Palais de Festivals. And while I didn’t say “hello” or even make eye contact, I really got bragging rights in the family group chat, and that’s enough.

It was morning. Joy and I spent the rest of the day moving back and forth between screenings, frantically writing reviews during this time. We also spent most of our night imagining how we might get into the world premiere of the drama “Stillwater” starring Matt Damon the next day. By “we” I mean I pester Joy with countless different plans for how we might attend said screening, as she politely smiled and pretended she wasn’t tired of hearing me obsessed. by a celebrity given for the umpteenth time.

When we finally decided it was time to head back to our apartment, it was only 10pm and we were happy to write the rest of our reviews from home. “We are so organized! We said to ourselves. “So on top! But we were hit by the perfect storm.

I had several calls scheduled for the next hour, which meant Joy had found herself alone with the responsibility of navigating Cannes’ surprisingly confusing bus system as we crossed the Croisette, desperate for our beds. The resulting chaos caused us to wait three hours last night for a bus that was never supposed to arrive causing us to miss the buses we were supposed to take. (That’s when I finally understood why our host, Joy’s own roommate, gave me the keys to the apartment instead of Joy.)

In our late night delirium, I felt compelled by a strange force to start singing a song from Leos Carax’s “Annette”, but as we had only seen it yesterday, I only knew one. word. I assured Joy that this was the best way to get us to Mandelieu, as it would manifest an appearance by Marion Cotillard of “Annette”, who could then bring us back. We soon learned that we had looked at the map wrong the whole time, so without any introduction from Cotillard, we finally got on a bus at 12 noon. Much to everyone’s dismay, the singing “Annette” continued on my side (it was stuck in my head! I couldn’t help myself!), Which inspired Joy to start singing “Jesus Take the”. Wheel ”as a coping mechanism. Much to her chagrin, the result has been that I now associate this song with the song “Annette”, which, given the frequency with which Joy sings “Jesus Takes the Wheel”, is not good for anyone.

Back at our Mandelieu apartment around 1:30 am, I got down to work on another review. When I returned to the bedroom a few hours later, I found Joy passed out on the bed, fully clothed, with the lights on. Oh, Cannes, we love you so much!

Yesterday’s hiccups meant we were more than motivated to make today’s festival program the best it could be. And I am now happy to report that we have largely succeeded. Today’s screenings and review writing went according to plan, but by the end of the afternoon we had changed our casual outfit to ball gowns, jumpsuits and stilettos. We were ready to make our way, ticketless, to the premiere of “Stillwater,” even if that meant spending hours outside in six inch heels on the scorching French Riviera. To our surprise, we did it!

As we climbed the red carpet-covered steps of the Grand Théâtre Lumière, we saw the stars a few steps below us. Wanting to immortalize the moment, we attempted to take pictures but were quickly reprimanded by the festival staff. Even still, the relief we felt after days of wanting to attend those coveted black tie showings was unmatched. Next, we caught up with former Crimed extraordinary Caroline A. Tsai ’20, who used her Cannes expertise to help us craft a plan to get the attention of former Harvard student Matt Damon as ‘he was leaving the theater. “We are also from Harvard! We live at Lowell House! we shouted. It didn’t matter to us that only Joy lives at Lowell House and that Caroline graduated. Damon lived in Lowell, which meant we would say so did we. Despite our best efforts, however, Damon quickly walked away from the crowd of fans who had also hoped to catch him at the exit, crushing our dreams of including a quote in this blog post.

But don’t worry, dear Crimson readers, we have bigger and better plans for the next time we get a celebrity date. Stay tuned.

– Editor-in-Chief Sofia Andrade can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @bySofiaAndrade.