The final day of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival faced unexpected turmoil as a significant power outage, attributed to suspected sabotage, left about 160,000 residents without electricity. The blackout, which began early Saturday morning, led to chaos in the southern French city, where officials confirmed that an electricity substation was set ablaze and another nearby pylon was deliberately damaged.
Despite the setbacks, organizers of the international festival indicated that the closing ceremony would proceed as planned, thanks to the use of alternative power sources. Initial reports suggested that the incident commenced around dawn when arsonists targeted a substation serving the Cannes area, resulting in the first outage. A subsequent disruption occurred around 10:00 AM (08:00 GMT) when the legs of an electrical pylon in the nearby town of Villeneuve-Loubet were violently cut, contributing to the widespread blackout.
Local businesses faced significant challenges as the power cut persisted. Laurent Aboukrat, the owner of Jamin restaurant, expressed frustration at the situation, noting that his refrigerators had been rendered inoperative since morning. "Another hour and I'll throw everything away," he remarked. Ice cream shops also shuttered their doors in response to the disruption.
Cannes was described by Australian producer Darren Vukasinovic as being in a state of "total slowdown," lamenting the lack of available coffee and croissants, signaling a state of crisis in the bustling town. While several film screenings were adversely affected during the morning hours, festival organizers managed to switch to private generators to keep events running smoothly as the day progressed.
The stakes were high as Saturday marked the festival's conclusion, when French actress Juliette Binoche and her jury were set to announce the winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or, the festival's highest honor.
Despite the setbacks, organizers of the international festival indicated that the closing ceremony would proceed as planned, thanks to the use of alternative power sources. Initial reports suggested that the incident commenced around dawn when arsonists targeted a substation serving the Cannes area, resulting in the first outage. A subsequent disruption occurred around 10:00 AM (08:00 GMT) when the legs of an electrical pylon in the nearby town of Villeneuve-Loubet were violently cut, contributing to the widespread blackout.
Local businesses faced significant challenges as the power cut persisted. Laurent Aboukrat, the owner of Jamin restaurant, expressed frustration at the situation, noting that his refrigerators had been rendered inoperative since morning. "Another hour and I'll throw everything away," he remarked. Ice cream shops also shuttered their doors in response to the disruption.
Cannes was described by Australian producer Darren Vukasinovic as being in a state of "total slowdown," lamenting the lack of available coffee and croissants, signaling a state of crisis in the bustling town. While several film screenings were adversely affected during the morning hours, festival organizers managed to switch to private generators to keep events running smoothly as the day progressed.
The stakes were high as Saturday marked the festival's conclusion, when French actress Juliette Binoche and her jury were set to announce the winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or, the festival's highest honor.
