The notoriously snotty American Pavillion (the hub for US representation at Cannes) has outdone itself this year by demanding 20 Euros for access to the tented area where people can hang out, check their e-mail, etc.
It’s the only pavillion on the croisette to pull such a greedy stunt and is being met with fierce resistance by people like me who refuse to endorse the money grab on principle.
The word going around is that the American Pavillion lost their corporate sponsors (which translates as somebody on their staff wasn’t doing their job of getting on the telephone and locating new sponsors). Allegedly, the American Pavillion staff are upset with the French for charging them a $350,000 (they think the French are ‘screwing’ them) fee for the space and are taking it out on people wanting access to the previously public area.
Even press are expected to pay the $20 Euros for entry to the symposiums of interviews with actors and directors.
It’s an unfortunate example of American capitalist greed bearing its teeth in a place where everything done is under an international media microscope.
I predict that this will prove a bitter lesson to the people running the American Pavillion, and that next year they’ll be engaged in an effort to win back the people they have insulted this year with their ham-fisted stunt.
