|  | WORLD CINEMA
Festivals
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Cannes 2004: In and out
At the 57th Cannes International Film Festival (May 12 to 23,2004) cinema is played out not just inside the tens of auditoriums, but also outside, on the marvellous shores of the Mediterranean Sea, on the great boulevards of this delightful town of Cannes and inside the conference venues. Cannes is cinema all right.
The president of this year's international jury, Quentin Tarantino ( whose movie, "Kill Bill 2", features Outside Competition) revealed that he was responsible for a notorious punch-up at Cannes in 1992.
Tarantino was trying to get into a screening of the cult Belgian film, "Man bites Dog", when he was shoved by a security guard. Tarantino hit him back, when five other guards pounced on him. His girlfriend came to his rescue, and the day was saved for Tarantino.
He was at Cannes for the first time that year with his movie,"Reservoir Dogs". Tarantino went on to win the Golden Palm in later years, and his dream to be at the French Riviera as the president of the jury has come true as well.
But, other jurors beware, for if you do not fall in line with Tarantino's thinking, you might be in for a good hard punch !
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Tarantino is know for his unusually strong cinema and, of course, remarks. Speaking at an anti-piracy meeting at Cannes during the Festival, this American director quipped that he was happy that piracy existed,because in China, for instance, that was the only way one could watch his films. "None of my movies has ever been allowed a theatrical release in China, even "Kill Bill", which we shot there for three months. I am glad it is being pirated in China..."
Tarantino went on, even as the other speakers looked at him bemused.
But here are a few figures: Over a million feature films are illegally downloaded every day in France. This compares with theatrical admissions averaging 477,000 and legal DVD sales of 186,000 per day.
In fact, some forms of software can now download a feature movie in one or two minutes. |
