Cannes Film Festival: blackout over, screenings restored. Arson act confirmed
Electricity interrupted in 16,000 homes due to a fire in a power station, the cause is being investigated. Award ceremony at Palais des Festivals not at risk
2' min read
2' min read
Within hours of the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival the French Riviera town and surrounding places like Antibes were in the dark for hours. A blackout rendered shops, restaurants and even hotels crowded with tourists and festival-goers inaccessible.
The power supply in Cannes was restored around 3pm, when music started to resound from the loudspeakers on the promenade again. The end of the blackout was greeted with great applause by the local population. Earlier, some 160,000 households in the French département of Alpes-Maritimes were left without electricity after a high-voltage line went down this morning, according to power grid operator Rte. The outage came just hours after a fire at an electrical substation near Cannes overnight had already weakened the grid.
Prosecutor: 'Malicious act, cabin and pylon vandalised'
.The Grasse public prosecutor's office confirmed that the blackout in Cannes and the Alpes-Maritimes region today was 'a malicious act', with an electricity substation and a high voltage pylon vandalised overnight in the area around the French city. Following this sabotage in Villeneuve-Loubet, the company Rte switched off the line to allow work to be carried out, indirectly causing a massive power outage in Cannes, where the closing ceremony of the film festival is expected.
Non-risk award
.According to the official version, issued by the Festival organisation, 'a power outage has affected the city of Cannes and its surroundings. The Palais des Festivals,' the Festival's note continued, 'has switched to an independent power supply, allowing all scheduled events and screenings, including the closing ceremony, to take place as planned and under normal conditions. However, screenings at the Cineum were temporarily suspended.
Italy out of the palmares
Italy meanwhile seems to have remained out, - just like the title of Mario Martone's film in competition - from the palmares. Reportedly, no one from Italy was recalled for the film, as protocol dictates. The film starring Valeria Golino as Goliarda Sapienza is currently in cinemas distributed by 01.
