Cannes Film Festival — which takes places May 16 - 27, 2023 — is an industry festival, meaning that the main market area in the Palais and main competition films are generally only open to people who are in the film industry, and not the public. This translates to, more or less, do you have a legit IMDb profile?
~~ BADGE OPTIONS ~~
With a badge, you don't have to pay for individual movie tickets in main Cannes Film Festival, though in the past you did have to wait in line. That changed with the 2021 pandemic version, where they introduced digital tickets (and no need for wait). Industry badge includes in-competition, out-of-competition and Un Certain Regard. In addition, with Market (black) badges, you can also see all the marketplace screenings for the buyers/industry folks around the around. Note that in The Before Times you still needed a hard ticket for a red carpet premiere, or anything in the Lumiere Theater (where the red carpet takes place). This went digital.
A market (black) badge, if you get approved, costs about US$400-$600 depending on when you register. You can see as many movies as you want. There are some ways to get around the "legit IMDb profile" constraint if you are not in industry (e.g. go with a company which buys market badges in bulk which they assign to you).
Additional badge options
• Youth pass: If you are 28 and under, you can apply for the Three Days in Cannes "Youth Pass," which was introduced in 2019 to fill seats when industry is gone (early and late). Applications are open now! You get to chose from three periods: May 17-19 (beginning), May 22-24 (late middle, peak industry) or May 25-27 (all the awards!), 2023. More info:
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/participer/accredit#tab=accreditation-for-three-days-in-cannes• Cinephile pass: Apparently you can apply if you are a film buff and belong to a "movie club." We have never done this, nor do we know anyone who does this, but if you want to go this route, we can investigate. A film club to join could possibly be Film Independent (
https://www.filmindependent.org) for $95, which also lets you have access to screeners when awards time rolls around since you get to VOTE for the Spirit Awards. More info on Cinephile here
https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/participer/accredit#tab=cinephiles-accreditation• Submit a film for the "Short Film Corner" for a fee of €85 , which comes with two festival (purple) badges for the director and producer. The corner, which is part of the marketplace, is NOT the same as being in competition in Cannes Court Metrage (which comes with a laurel). All they do is basically check "is this a short film that meets our technical criteria?" There is no judgement on artistic merit.
~~BUT HOW DO I SEE MOVIES WITHOUT A BADGE?~~
So if you don't get a badge, there are three parallel film festivals that take place in coordination with Cannes, including Director's Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs), Critics' Week, and ACID. These are where you can just buy tickets like a normal person for surprisingly cheap (as low as €7) or just wait on line for free! These are often the movies that have played in other film festivals, or are notable premieres in their own right.
Also! There are free movies on the beach every night as part of Cinema de la Plage (they even give you warm blankets on the lounge chairs). Their selection often has tie-ins to folks who are at the main Cannes festival, or have historical significance (e.g. someone died). In the last few years, we have watched Black Panther, Fast and Furious 9, and Boyz in the Hood on the beach while listening to the sound of the waves on the sand.
~~ PARTIES AND HOTELS ~~
Parties are not generally badged, and neither are the hotels, including Hôtel du Cap in Antibes (the posh hotel where celebrities hang and also Harvey Weinstein did some of his nasty things). That being said, you should be ready to drop $20 for a cocktail to hang out at those hotels. Point being, there are lots of ways to have fun with cool people and many neat things to do in the Côte d'Azur without having to go to movies.
~~HOUSING ~~
To give you a sense of housing cost, you should be looking at ~$150/head/night for 5-6 nights for "dignified" housing in a good location. That goes up or down with length of time, private/shared bathroom, ocean view, less good location, pull-out couch etc.
Generally, we price our housing blocks of up to two weeks for $1100-$1500 per sleeping SLOT. We can sometimes break this up if we find someone to match you. For those who are not there for industry, it is possible to do it for first half (~May 16-22) OR second half (~May 22-27).
This effective nightly rate can drop if you are there for long stretches, and also if you want to add days in the beginning/end. Most good venues rent for the whole ~12-day duration of Cannes, but you can sometimes stretch/shift that window as part of the negotiation. The housing rate also drops if you are willing to be more scrappy—eg housing which is literally on the other side of the railroad tracks, couches, air mattresses. But baseline you are $100/night/person for anything within walking distance of the Palais. You can stay further out, outside walking range, but Ubers are so expensive that you find the cost basically events out.
This year have decent deals on a six bedroom (each with private bath!) and a five bedroom, both of which are both close to Palais but have no charming views. The price went up compared to 2021 and 2022, but thanks to the strong dollar, we can keep prices relatively affordable.
5BR https://www.chicgites.com/1820jm.html
We also have this (expensive!) 2BR unit, with a beautiful view of the harbor that we use for hosting events, where people are free to hang
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/50668661~~ WHAT DO I WEAR? ~~
Cannes is generally smart casual EXCEPT for the red carpet premieres. These generally require a badge AND a ticket. For men, this is tux with tux shoes. For women, it's nice (formal?) dress and high heels (there has been controversy over whether heels are actually necessary:
https://www.screendaily.com/festivals/cannes/cannes-women-denied-palais-entry-for-wearing-flats/5088395.article). People in our crowd have definitely been bounced for wearing the wrong shoes. Cannes is one of the few places where the dress code is arguably tougher for men than women.
~~ FOOD ~~
Unlike Sundance and Park City, the food in Cannes can actually be pretty cheap and good, as well as expensive and good. You have everything from McDonalds (screen ordering only), to fancy restaurants up the mountain with ocean views, to late night shawarma places with long lines, to buying yummy baguettes and butter at the supermarket. We generally don't do as much cooking because food options are plentiful. We keep basic stuff in the fridge (yogurt, fruit, hummus, cold cuts).
~~ SHOPPING ~~
Monoprix, like the Fresh Market meets Target, is where you go if you forget any basics like socks or underwear.
FNAC if you forget your country converter.
~~CLUBS and LOUNGES~~
There are many clubs on the beach here you can pay for membership independent of being a badge. They have WiFi or are good places to hold meetings.
• American Pavilion, inside the Palais (so you need a badge). Serves decent, not-exorbitantly priced food. Membership comes with invites to member party and Queer Night each year - both fun.
~~ HOW DO I GET TO CANNES? ~~
The closest airport to Cannes is Nice (NCE), where you can either take a 35 minute taxi/Uber (Around USD$70) or walk to the train station and take it to Cannes. The train station is about a 12-minute walk from the Palais. You can also fly to Paris (Norwegian Air, RIP, once has very cheap flights) and take a lovely 5-hour train, straight from Charles de Gaulle airport — though check availability as the trains are often sold out. Note that Cannes runs into Memorial Day weekend, so you could make a whole France trip of it.
More questions/info below.
