Power Outage and Sabotage Disrupt Cannes Film Festival Finale

The Cannes Film Festival faced significant disruptions on its concluding day as a suspected sabotage resulted in a power cut affecting over 160,000 homes. Organizers managed to secure an alternative power source for the ceremony, despite problems for local businesses and festival screenings.

A series of power outages attributed to suspected sabotage have marred the closing day of the Cannes Film Festival in southern France. Early on Saturday, approximately 160,000 residences in Cannes and nearby areas were plunged into darkness, although power was restored by the afternoon. The disruptions were linked to an arson attack on an electricity substation, along with damage to a pylon in the region. Despite the setbacks, festival organizers confirmed that the closing ceremony would proceed as scheduled, having arranged access to alternative power supplies.

Authorities reported that the initial outage originated from a targeted attack on a substation serving the village of Tanneron, which provides electricity to Cannes. A second incident occurred around 10:00 AM local time when the legs of an electricity pylon near Villeneuve-Loubet were severed, compounding the outage.

Local businesses, particularly eateries, faced considerable challenges in the wake of the power loss. "Another hour and I'll throw everything away," lamented Laurent Aboukrat, proprietor of Cannes' Jamin restaurant, as he struggled to keep his fridges operational. "Cannes is in a total slowdown, meltdown," reported Australian producer Darren Vukasinovic, whose day was thrown into chaos by the lack of basic amenities.

Several film screenings were affected throughout the morning, but festival organizers effectively transitioned to private generators to resume events. As the festival draws to a close, French actress Juliette Binoche and her jury are set to unveil the recipient of the coveted Palme d'Or, the festival's highest honor.