Catching Up...

After my delicious dinner on Monday, it was back to JLP to catch some Z's and rest up for another day at the festival. On to the next day...

-Tuesday May 17

My day began with a breakfast at Pan and Cake, a little cafe across the street from our residence. It's run by a sweet family that loves practicing English, and it has good food. Win-win!

Here's my typical breakfast. The best part: French bread. Lots of French bread.

 After eating, it was off to a screening in Cannes, but one unlike any of the films I had seen. An Israeli film called The Slut, I didn't have much expectations going in. Yet, I wasn't prepared for what a truly awful film it was. I nearly fell asleep, and it had a terribly disturbing ending that made me feel ill. Nothing that a delicious lunch and some souvenir shopping couldn't fix! After eating (which I seem to do a lot of over here), it was on to another Israeli movie called Footnote. It won best screenplay today (Sunday the 22nd) in the festival, and it seemed like a great film...but I ended up leaving early. I was dozing off and I guess just wasn't in the mood for its type of film. I will catch it on DVD in the states for sure!

After leaving the theater, I made a quick pit stop at the American pavilion to hop online. Here's what the pavilion looks like:

To the left of this there's a food stand and a conference room where speakers (one being Ryan Gosling...more on that later!) come. Out beyond the tables is the beautiful Mediterranean filled with yachts.

Although it's hard to remember for sure, the rest of my night was more than likely spent writing film reviews and catching up on emails, etc.

-Wednesday May 18
This day was one of the most exciting days of the festival. Here's why:

Yep, that's Ryan Gosling.

Nicholas Winding Refn: Director of "Drive" in competition at Cannes.

Who needs to see a movie when you can see a movie star? I didn't see any films on this day, but it was well worth it. The group heard from two directors early in the day, one being Oliver Schmidt who has directed/worked on many projects, including a vignette in Paris, Je T'aime. Director Jeff Nichols spoke to us as well, focusing on how he got a start in the industry and what's important in getting where you want to be. His movie screening at the festival was called Take Shelter. I didn't get a chance to see it, but it got great reviews. 

After the talks, I took a quick shopping break and got a new sun dress (which I needed like a hole in the head). After this, it was on to see Ryan Gosling! First in line in the hot sun at the American Pavilion, I got to see an actor I've been admiring for years. He and director Nicholas Winding Refn were talking about their film in competition at the festival called Drive. I saw the film a couple of days ago and really liked it--it was entertaining, but nothing like I expected. 

This song was played several times in the movie, and it will forever be stuck in my head. "A reeeeal humaaan beeeing, and a reeeal heeeero."