Cannes faces power strike

With the world tuned to the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, the French power company workers took the opportunity to vent their anger against the authorities by cutting off electricity in some of the major parts of city.

Though the French power company, EDF workers had threatened to cut power supply during the black-tie evening gala, the main venue of the festival, Palace, remained
unaffected by the strike.

However, several star hotels, restaurants and offices of major movie companies remained in the dark for well over three hours as the striking workers had cut off the power supply in many areas of the city.

The workers were reportedly asking for shorter working hours and better pays. And not only power employees, railways workers too chose the opportunity to draw attention to their demands. They went on strike on Wednesday, making it difficult for those wanting to explore the city by surface transport.

The prestigious festival is not new to strikes. In the last two decades, Air France, teachers and workers have gone off work to get their demands addressed by the government. 

In 1968, the festival had to shut down well before the end when a workers' strike snowballed into a major country-wide movement with the students actively supporting
it. Although, the festival organisers tried their best to keep the news from filtering into Cannes, they could not succeed.

Renowned film-makers, such as Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godart joined the protest and the premiere of film Peppermint Frappe by Spanish director Carlos Saura was halted. The festival was later closed down without declaring the list of prize-winners.