Cannes 2009: Blackout hits, postponing screenings and closing shops

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A massive blackout hit the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday afternoon, forcing the postponement of numerous screenings and the closure of countless shops along Cannes’ fanciest shopping streets.

The electrical outage, which hit at about 3:10 p.m. local time, prompted the evacuation of the Star Theater, where at least half-a-dozen Cannes movies were scheduled to be shown Tuesday afternoon. It was not immediately clear if the blackout would force the cancellation Tuesday night of director Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces” at the Palais, the Cannes headquarters. Several local merchants said the Palais had its own back-up power supply.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of electrical workers staged a noisy labor march along Cannes’ streets, drawing dozens of police, some in full riot gear. Asked if the blackout and the labor protest were related, a local policeman smiled and said, “What do you think?”

Along Rue d’Antibes, the city’s fanciest shopping street, scores of cafes, clothing stores and hotels were without power. “All I can serve are cold sandwiches,” said a waiter at the Lux Café. Local merchants said they did not expect power to be restored until late in the night, but one ice cream vendor along the Croisette said he didn’t think power would come back on until well after midnight.

--John Horn