Power sabotage cripples Cannes Film Festival for five hours on the closing day

Cannes: A five-hour-plus electricity outage almost crippled the closing day of the Cannes Film Festival’s 78th edition on Saturday morning. That the closing ceremony with its dazzling red carpet celebrities and the much-awaited awards function of a festival that is often called the ‘Queen of All’ did manage to go on despite what was described by the authorities as ‘malicious acts of vandalism’ was a sheer miracle.

Local news broadcaster ‘France3’ said, “According to the Alpes-Maritimes gendarmerie… One of the two malicious acts that caused the power outage was an ‘arson attack on a high-voltage substation’ in the commune of Tanneron.”

‘France3’ reported that criminal identification technicians were on site and the research unit of the Draguignan commune had taken charge of the incident.

However, the power was restored throughout the city of Cannes by the shimmering Mediterranean Sea by a dedicated band of festival workers who made sure that the lights glowed just before the closing ceremony began.

But it was really touch-and-go that gave the festival organisers anxious hours. However, an independent source of power from three generators kept the Palace - the main venue of the festival - working with press conferences and screenings.

However, most establishments across the city of Cannes were without power for most of the day, including hotels where guests attending the ceremony were getting ready. The power outage left dozens of festival goers without the means to access their online tickets.

A screening of ‘Oliver Laxe’s Competition’ titled ‘Sirât’ was briefly interrupted by a power cut before it was able to resume.