The China Mail - Cannes hit by power cut as film festival draws to a close

A wry Iranian film about political prisoners and a Ukrainian-directed drama about despotism are among the frontrunners after almost a fortnight of red carpets and politically charged statements.

French actor Juliette Binoche and her jury will announce the winner from the 22 films competing for the Palme d'Or for best film.

The best-reviewed contenders include Iranian director Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident" and Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa's study of tyranny in "Two Prosecutors", according to analysis from Screen magazine.

But cinema bible Variety predicted a triumph for Norwegian director Joachim Trier's "Sentimental Value", a moving tale about a quietly fractured family starring Elle Fanning.

It got an extraordinary 19-minute standing ovation after its premiere on Thursday.

Rumours buzzed around the Riviera resort on Saturday morning about the likely winners, but the traffic did not.

Traffic lights were knocked out by the power cut, causing major snarls, while the electricity supply was briefly cut at the film festival headquarters.

Organisers said they had switched to an alternative supply, "which enables us to maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony".

The cause of the outage has not been announced, but police sources told AFP it was caused by a fire, probably an arson attack, on a nearby electricity substation.

- Politics -

Amid the red carpets and parties, this year's Cannes Festival has been politically charged, with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as US President Donald Trump major talking-points.

The Gaza war has been on the minds of some of the festival's guests, with more than 900 actors and filmmakers signing an open letter denouncing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory, according to organisers.

Binoche, "Schindler's List" star Ralph Fiennes, US indie director Jim Jarmusch and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange -- in town to present a documentary he stars in -- are among the signatories.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, however, said that the festival felt like a "bubble of indifference".

Trump's presidency was denounced by US filmmaker Todd Haynes as "barbaric", while Chilean-American actor Pedro Pascal admitted it was "scary" to speak out against the Republican leader.

- Awards -

Other awards have already started to be announced.

The first Chechen film to screen at the Cannes Festival -- "Imago" -- won best documentary, while the film about the life of Assange -- "The Six Billion Dollar Man" -- picked up a special jury prize on Friday.

In the secondary Un Certain Regard section, Chilean filmmaker Diego Cespedes won the top prize for "The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo", which follows a group of trans women living in a desert mining town in the 1980s.

French actor-turned-director Hafsia Herzi won the unofficial Queer Palm for "The Last One", a coming-of-age tale about a teenage lesbian Muslim living in Paris.

"I wanted to show that there were no borders in friendship, in love," Herzi said.

Earlier in the week, "Useful Ghost", an off-the-wall Thai LGBTQ ghost story packing a daring political punch, was awarded top prize in the Critics' Week sidebar section.

On a lighter note, a sheepdog that features in Icelandic family drama "The Love That Remains" won the Palm Dog prize for canine performers in festival films, organisers announced.

Icelandic director Hlynur Palmason cast his own pet, Panda, in his poignant story about a couple navigating a separation and the impact on their family.

B.Carter--ThChM