POSTCARDS FROM CANNES
May 22nd - Day nine.

It was all going so well.

Today is our last day in France and last night we had rounded the festival off and the 2008 FrightFest jaunt to the 61st Cannes Film Festival in some style. We had attended Simon (Living And The Dead) Rummley’s 40th birthday party bash at the Cannes Century Club. All the great and the good of the worldwide fantastic and horror film fraternity were there. We drank and partied the night away on the beach enjoying the night and the company.

Nursing sore heads, well Paul and I where, as Alan and Greg had sensibly bailed out early, we packed and got ready to head for the airport. Pick up time came and went and the normally reliable caretaker and his mini van never showed. A frantic call to him revealed that he had thought that we where leaving tomorrow – Saturday. I’ll be there in five minutes. Fifty minutes later the van eventually turns up and we headed off to the airport in a futile attempt to get there in time at what seamed like the speed of sound.

By the time we got there we had missed our check in time. We where 5 minutes late. After much shouting, swearing and nearly a thousand euros lighter in supplements, Paul, Johanna and I rushed to the plane just making the gate as the plane door closed. Greg and Alan remained behind with our entire luggage to follow on the next flight. Once at Heathrow we waited in arrivals and then had to be escorted back through the staff entrance of the baggage hall to meet Greg and Alan with our luggage. When they turned up I have never seen Alan in particular in such a foul mood. This was such a shame as the whole trip had gone so well. We had had a grand time, saw some great films and made some amazing contacts for the future, which is really what Cannes is all about.

Moving on, my festival highlight and lowlight are the same. MARTYRS. I haven’t seen any where near the amount of films that the other boys have, but MARTYRS has left a big impression on me. It is a fantastically well-made film, which is really tough to watch in places, but you can’t take your eyes off of the screen. I wanted to leave the cinema, but the film held me in my seat to the end. I’m glad I did, as the ending was so worth it.

You have one more day to try and win our Cannes bag of crap. It made it back to London, a bit late and at some cost. Looking at it again I actually wouldn’t mind it myself. Just drop me an e-mail with the reason that it should find its way to you.

Enter here. The winner will be announced in the next few days

So that’s that. The last Cannes post card from 2008. I hope you all have enjoyed reading them as much as we have putting them together. The post cards will be back when FrightFest heads for Toronto and Austin in September.

So, until the next time.

Ian Rattray

Oh – what happened to day four? Well, Grindhouse was right. Day four coincided with Greg’s arrival and we all went out on a bit of a bender. We drank until almost daylight; Greg managed to get lost and could not find his way back to the villa, so yes, we just got bladdered.

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