Cannes [France], May 25 : The city of Cannes was hit by a five-hour power outage on Saturday morning ahead of the film festival's awards ceremony, with electricity finally returning around 3:30 p.m. local time.
Despite the technical challenges, a festival rep previously told that the closing ceremony would "proceed as planned" after the Palais des Festivals "switched to an independent power supply," reported Variety.
According to Franceinfo, the cause of the outage may be foul play with two arson acts reported overnight and several power lines pylons were discovered to have been sawn off in the Alpes-Maritimes.
Karin Topin-Condomitti, director of services at the Cannes city hall, said the local government was still trying to determine whether the power outage was caused by a malicious act. She said an investigation would likely be conducted, as per the outlet.
"We have read, as I'm sure you have, reports in the media and press of malicious acts," Topin-Condomitti said. "In my opinion, this should be the subject of an ongoing investigation, subject to confirmation by the public prosecutor's office. In any case, we're taking action to deal with the consequences of this power cut as best we can. The courts will investigate."
Around 10:15 a.m., as the press conference for Kelly Reichardt's competition film "The Mastermind" began, power went out in certain parts of the city. According to Screen, which was the first to report on the loss, power went out in numerous screening rooms, pausing films midway through their showings, although power remained on in the Palais thanks to backup generators.
The power flickered on and off many times at the J.W. Marriott on the Croisette, a festival hub where many attendees sought internet connectivity. Due to the power outage, numerous establishments closed or switched to cash only. That was problematic because ATMs went down as well, reported Variety.
"A power outage is currently affecting the city of Cannes and surrounding areas," a representative for the festival told Variety. "At this stage, the cause of the outage has not yet been identified. Restoration efforts are underway."
The rep added, "The Palais des Festivals has switched to an independent power supply, allowing all scheduled events and screenings, including the Closing Ceremony, to proceed as planned and under normal conditions. However, screenings at the Cineum have been temporarily suspended and will resume as soon as power is restored," as per the outlet.
At 2:20 p.m. local time, the power had yet to be restored. However, the mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, said power company EDF is working on restoring power by this afternoon. Franceinfo has reported that "malicious acts" may be the source of the outage, citing France's Ministry of the Interior. According to Franceinfo, the two arson attacks occurred at the Saint-Cassien power plant, reported Variety.
The 78th Cannes Film Festival closed with Iranian director Jafar Panahi accepting the Palme d'Or for 'It Was Just an Accident'.
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