What no on tells you about the Cannes Film Festival

This twelvemonth was peculiar for South Asia astatine the Cannes Film Festival, contempt nary Indian diagnostic films being successful the authoritative selection. We lone had Mehar Malhotra’s abbreviated movie Shadows of the Moonless Nights successful the La Cinef section, and the restored mentation of John Abraham’s Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother, 1985) successful the Cannes Classics.

Nepal bushed america to the awards, with Abinash Bikram Shah’s Elephants successful the Fog winning the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, and the Best Sound Creation Award. The film, acceptable successful a feisty kinnar oregon transgender assemblage surviving connected the borderline of a wood with chaotic elephants, humanises an often despised community. I was thrilled to enactment that Nepali-American decorator Prabal Gurung created customized couture for the spirited transgender cast. It ever helps to person a seasoned decorator usher first-timers connected the reddish carpet.

Meanwhile, from the Indian conception it was a arrogant infinitesimal to spot Payal Kapadia — whose film, All We Imagine arsenic Light, won the Grand Prix astatine Cannes 2 years agone — arsenic president of the Semaine de la Critique/Critics’ Week. Very fewer successful India person had this honour, and it made maine callback my clip arsenic a Critics’ Week assemblage subordinate successful 2023. (Kapadia and I are the lone Indians to person been invited to this assemblage successful the past 5 years, and possibly adjacent longer.)

The assemblage judges archetypal and 2nd features, and shorts. Back then, I shared the work with German histrion Franz Rogowski, French manager Audrey Diwan (her movie Happening won the Golden Lion successful Venice successful 2021), Portuguese cinematographer Rui Poças, and Sundance Film Festival’s manager of programming, Kim Yutani.

Evenings connected the French Riviera

I callback how, arsenic assemblage members, we were invited to the opening nighttime reddish carpet astatine the Palais des Festivals, the movie screening, and past dinner. Having arrived successful Cannes lone a fewer hours earlier the evening was to start, I rapidly changed into an elegant achromatic handloom sari and velvet blouse, and went down to conscionable the jury.

As Ava Cahen, past creator director, introduced america to each other, Franz Rogowski turned to maine and said, “Excuse me.” He past leaned implicit and closed the apical fastener astatine the backmost of my blouse. “You look perfectly lovely,” helium added, smiling. I astir fainted from his generous compliment, but besides died of embarrassment astatine our awkward blouse fastener introduction. That’s wherefore I detest blouses with buttons astatine the back, which request a 2nd brace of hands to bash them up properly.

The adjacent day, an Indian media header went, ‘Who’s that pistillate connected the reddish carpet successful a sari?’, on with a photograph of each of us. Since I was connected a movie jury, and hadn’t hired a PR agent, cipher knew me. The media bid their lenses connected the stars and influencers, laser-focussed connected translating their 5 seconds of fame into zillions of online views.

The strategy has paid off. Today, rumours swirl of fixers who complaint implicit ₹2 lakh to put speedy photos/reel shoots connected the reddish carpet earlier the bouncers arrive. Alongside, the media besides focuses connected the films astatine the Marché du Film, not realising that astatine the concern helping anyone tin prosecute a booth oregon structure to beforehand their films. It is not the aforesaid arsenic being successful the authoritative enactment with Cannes’ highly-curated films.

This variation saw actors specified arsenic Alia Bhatt and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan gully a batch of attraction for their couture. I wonderment if determination are inactive Cannes goers similar maine who bash #FestivalsOnALoveBudget, and deterioration chiefly saris oregon apparel borrowed from friends, delighted to showcase our affluent textile practice with a Baluchari, Paithani oregon Garad silk.

When Bata shoes made the cut

Meanwhile, D-Day 2023 had a fewer outliers. When our assemblage went connected signifier to denote the Critics’ Week prize winners, I retrieve astir men had turned up rather dandified. But not Rogowski. He was successful a plain fabric fastener down garment and pants, refusing to beryllium cowed down by Cannes’ celebrated manner terror. “We’re German, you know?” helium told maine with a shrug. We had a batch successful communal — I’d worn a brace of ₹100 achromatic rubber-soled Bata shoes connected the opening nighttime reddish carpet due to the fact that it was predicted to rain.

My abiding representation of Cannes volition beryllium of the women who preen connected the reddish carpet successful extravagant gowns with eight-foot-long trains. Some, I discovered, pre-arranged a ‘train girl’ conscionable to clasp and put it for photos. But fearfulness follows these photos — however tin they ticker a movie successful the Palais des Festivals sitting with the full bid tucked nether them?

Plus, it often rains successful Cannes, and I person photos of women walking desolately, holding these wet, bedraggled trains draped implicit their arms. And if they couldn’t get a cab, they were often barefoot, holding their precocious heels successful their hands. Because aft the drama, who cares?

An autarkic curator to festivals worldwide for the past 27 years, the writer is the Toronto International Film Festival’s Senior Programme Advisor (South Asia), and was the Berlin Film Festival’s South Asia Delegate from 1998-2025.