Last night ended up being a trip back in time. First, I was led around in circles before heading to the screening of Cannes classic Le Sauvage [1975], but felt privileged as soon as Catherine Deneuve – the film’s star, now pushing 70 – gracefully walked through the door. It was her everyone wanted to see, past fellow heavyweights Costa-Gavras and director Jean-Paul Rappeneau. One girl bravely stopped her in her tracks for a signature and she gracefully obliged. The digital restoration of the film was received well by the audience, whose laughs resonated throughout.

Afterward, I went further back in time to see the new restoration of Georges Méliès century-old short A Trip to the Moon [Le Voyage des la Lune], the most striking change being that it is now in full colour (which the organisers stress was done by Méliès himself in 1902). It’s fascinating to find out that a colour version existed, not to mention the electronic soundtrack they chose to mix in with it. I found it very eerie to watch it for the first time with its modern touches. I wonder how I would’ve felt had it had the more traditional orchestral backing?

Sadly, I missed out on the screening of Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist (pictured above) starring John Goodman. If you ever plan on attended Cannes, take heed: camp out for what you want to really see. An hour’s wait probably won’t cut it. Instead, I watched Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie emerge from the premiere of Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life to a flurry of flashes. Not the frenzy of when they walked in, I imagine, but the paparazzi were still relentless. I’ve never seen such an intense scrum in my life. Rugby players should take note.

So, on to today. It’s interesting how quickly you have to learn new things time and time again. Come to mention it, old things too. Note: leaving the phone (alarm) next to your pillow is not the way to go if you want to be on time. Missed the morning screening of Snowtown… great start. Then when I get to Information to ask about where the unfamiliar cinemas listed for their remaining screenings are I’m told they’re as far as half an hour away from the city. In the other direction from Nice. So much for that…

Today was much better from an organisational standpoint. Although, no less relenting with the amount of new information stuffed in my inbox. I’ve been waiting on a digital copy of a short film for an interview, checking my inbox four times throughout the day in a hope it’d be there. More papers each time, but no film. Sigh.

Went to see Nadine Labaki’s Et maintenant on va ou? (Where Do We Go Now?) as my plan-B for missing Snowtown — and because there wasn’t a ridiculously long line (by which I mean there was only 70-80 people ahead of me). The film is competing within the Un Certain Regard category and rightly so. Actually no, it should’ve been in Official Competition – it’s funny and a little bit crazy, the tale of a Lebanese village and the threatening divide between Christians and Muslims is handled extremely well by Nadine Labaki. I can say this because I saw Hanezu No Tsuki (Hanezu), which despite being in Official Competition, was a largely uninteresting film that would have served far better as a short. How could something so simple be made to look oh-so-complex?

In the afternoon, I was lucky enough to sneak past the woman checking badges to get into a do at Screen Australia’s offices overlooking the Croisette, Cannes famous seaside boulevard. I must admit, I felt just a tad glamorous holding my glass of rosé, lazily watching the sun set over the coast. Absolutely beautiful. So was the wine. And food. Met some interesting people from various media/production companies before trying to check out a party with an Aussie journalist and director (who actually had an invite). I gave up on that pretty quickly in favour of what turned out to be a fantastic Italian dinner.

Things I learnt today:

- The last train of the night back to Nice is actually a bus and I should prepare for a scramble.
– You really don’t need 99% of the information they give you. It’ll only break your shoulder.
– It’s not easy to see films here regardless of access. Anyone who thinks you go see three/four films in a day is wrong. Lots of annoying time-wasting waiting involved.
– I’m really loving it. It’s draining me more than I thought it would, mentally especially, but I love the environment!

—

For more of Katina’s coverage of the 2011 Cannes film festival, click here.

Follow the author Katina Vangopoulos on Twitter.