CANNES, FRANCE – The glamorous final day of the Cannes Film Festival was plunged into chaos and suspicion Saturday morning as a massive power outage swept across the city, disrupting screenings and paralyzing local businesses. French authorities swiftly launched an investigation, strongly suspecting “acts of sabotage” behind the widespread blackout that left some 160,000 homes in the Alpes-Maritimes region without electricity.
The disruption began in the early hours, with the first outage reported after an electricity substation in the nearby village of Tanneron, which supplies power to Cannes, was reportedly attacked by arsonists. This was followed by a second, equally suspicious incident around 10:00 AM local time (08:00 GMT), when the legs of an electricity pylon near Villeneuve-Loubet were intentionally severed, according to officials.
The twin attacks created a “meltdown” across the city, as described by Australian producer Darren Vukasinovic. Traffic lights went dark, causing widespread jams and confusion. Shops and restaurants along the famous Croisette were forced to close or operate on a cash-only basis, with many lamenting spoiled produce as refrigerators went out of commission.
“Cannes is in a total slowdown, meltdown, there’s no coffee anywhere, and I think the town has run out of croissants, so this is like crisis territory,” Vukasinovic told Reuters, capturing the sentiment of exasperated locals and festival-goers.
Despite the widespread disruption, organizers of the prestigious film festival moved quickly to mitigate the impact. The main venue, the Palais des Festivals, was able to switch to its own independent power supply, allowing crucial screenings and, critically, the highly anticipated closing ceremony and Palme d’Or award presentation to proceed as planned in the evening. However, some early morning screenings at satellite venues were briefly suspended.
Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect for the Alpes-Maritimes area, condemned “these serious acts of damage” in the strongest terms. He affirmed that “all resources are being mobilized to identify, track down, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators of these acts.” French police are actively investigating, with arson being the primary line of inquiry.
The incident raises serious questions about security infrastructure in a city that annually hosts one of the world’s most high-profile cultural events. While there’s no immediate indication that the festival itself was the direct target, the timing of the sabotage on its climactic day has undoubtedly cast a shadow over what is typically a seamless celebration of cinema.
By mid-afternoon, power was largely restored to the affected areas, bringing cheers from residents and allowing some semblance of normalcy to return. Yet, the brazen nature of the suspected sabotage has left an unsettling feeling, serving as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities inherent in critical infrastructure, even in a locale renowned for its glamour and tightly managed events. The investigation continues as authorities work to unmask those responsible for literally dimming the lights on Cannes’ biggest night.