Cannes 2023: City of Cannes announces ban on protests
The City of Cannes has announced a ban on protests around the area of the Croisette during the Cannes Film Festival.
The announcement follows news of a planned protest by the labour union CGT, which will take place on May 21st at Boulevard Carnot, which isn’t close to the Croisette. Hospitality workers also plan to make their voices heard outside of the Carlton Hotel on May 19th, which is permitted on a technicality because the business is a private area.
Denis Gravouil, a representative for the union, told Variety the move “illustrates the way this government works whether in Cannes or elsewhere.” He continued: “This government didn’t block Neo-Nazis protesting in the heart of Paris on May 6, but there’s been so many decrees to ban the ‘casserolades’ (the concert of saucepans that’s been used to protest against the pension reform).”
Demonstrations have been restricted since the terrorist attacks in France in 2016. However, Celine Petit, a CGT official from Nice, revealed to Variety she “had been negotiating with local and regional authorities for nearly two weeks to reach a compromise over a demonstration path that would be close enough to the Croisette, as it was done in 2013, to give some visibility to (their) actions.”
Petit added: “It’s always been possible to find a middle ground, but this time around they say they’re afraid it will degenerate, but frankly I don’t know if it’s really fear or a will to not give any visibility to our claims about pension reform or what’s going on in the film world.”
In other Cannes Film Festival news, Catherine Corsini’s upcoming film Le Retour was recently removed from the schedule after several allegations of inappropriate behaviour during the film’s production surfaced regarding the director.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.