The place is really clearing out now. There’s not much going today – just the re-screening of all the films in competition. I started the day, as usual, online at the American Pavillion. But the WiFi was no longer working. Luckily there was a dangling Ethernet cable where one of the public use laptops had just been wrapped. As I updated the last two days of Cannes diary, I heard a woman’s story about how the Palais had screwed up her accreditation, and eventhough she was the president of a company, she couldn’t get a badge. No amount of logic could pierce the French beurocracy, and she hadn’t been able to see ANY screenings. I pointed out the existence of the Transferable badge on another guy hanging around with his family, and asked if he would loan it to her for the rest of the day. Hed was on the way out of town and had promised to bring it back to the guy who had loaned it to him who had left and wanted it for a souvenir. He apologetically declined and started to leave, then felt guilty, came back, and gave it to her. She was over the moon. Her Cannes experience was snatched back from the brink of fiasco and she was able to see screenings all day. We ended up hanging out together and becoming fast friends. Her name is Lisa and she is the President of the new Film Festival Channel, starting up this fall. (if not sooner) She’s the first other person I’ve ever met who wears 2 watches when traveling like I do.

I took her up the red carpet to the Lumiere theatre where we saw the impenetrable “2046” by Wan Kar Wai. Then we say Grand Prix (2nd place) winner “Old Boy” from Korea. Great movie, but very violent with a dark, ironic world view. She went on to “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers”, which I’d already seen, and we met up later for drinks and late dinner at the little Italian place by the Martinez, where they were still serving at 2am. Then a final drink at what seems to be the last place to close – The Petit Martinez, a little bar by the train station, where we ran into Uraguayan filmmaker Max, who I’ve seen about every 12 hours since Wednesday. He was spending the night just walking around, not wanting to pay for a bed, since he had plans to crash at a friend’s room in the morning once they vacate the bed.

As ever, in bed by 5am.