On Saturday, a massive power outage struck the South of France, briefly affecting multiple parts of the Cannes Film Festival. Multiple screenings held at Cannes’s Palais des Festival venue were briefly interrupted. Eventually, a backup generator kicked in, allowing those screenings to proceed and multiple press conferences, including one for Kelly Reichardt’s new film The Mastermind, to continue as planned.
According to multiple local French news media outlets, the outage was started by a fire at an electricity station outside the town of Tanneron, which began burning the night before and continued to burn overnight. This fire was then followed by the downing of several pylons close to the nearby towns of Villeneuve-Loubet, Mougins, and Cagnes-sur-Mer, which caused most of the mass outages, which began at around 10 am local time (1 am PT). According to French radio network Franceinfo, local police and sources at the Ministry of Interior suspect foul play, as many of the pylons show signs that they had been sawn off.
After 5 hours, power was eventually restored throughout the South of France. Not many screenings held at the main Palais des Festival venue were affected. Screenings held at the Cineum venue were briefly suspended until the power was restored. Multiple screenings, press conferences, and the closing ceremony could proceed as planned.
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