Every day I’m in Cannes for the Festival I deal with an internal struggle that makes existentialist wonderings seem like a trip to the ice cream shop. Should I watch films until I drop, or spend more time at the various cocktail parties that dot the Croisette every late afternoon? Is it OK to view a film on a link while sitting at my computer, or should I make sure I get to experience each and every oeuvre on the big screen, as god intended and Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux insists upon? Am I allowed to choose between Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Noah Baumbach or a Nespresso? Attend a dressed-down press screening or get dolled up for the black tie gala? Oh, the choices! It’s times like these I wish I could be cloned.
Read MoreThe Cannes Diaries: A Cowboy, the Courage to Dream Peace and a Fairy Tale
Thierry Frémaux is a cinema potentate. And that’s a great thing!
While most people at the top usually usurp their power for personal gain, the director of the Festival de Cannes uses his inimitable influence for the good of cinema. It’s a vision which may eventually — if filmmakers have their way — change the world. Thanks to ones like Amos Gitai, Chloé Zhao and Bong Joon-ho to cite a few whose latest oeuvres I’ve watched these past 24 hours — change the world for the better.
On a personal note, watching Frémaux’s elegant and welcoming presence at the top of the red carpet staircase before each of the official screenings has been a breath of style air, in a world that’s increasingly forgetting the power of modesty and class.
Read MoreThe Cannes Diaries: From Virtual Reality to Dreaming Awake with ‘Sicilian Ghost Story’
I’m hyper aware and over stimulated as I begin this Cannes experience, after having taken a year off from the grandest film festival in the world. On my flight over, I notice everything, even the exceedingly handsome, slim and tall flight attendant in his crisp white shirt and tight black vest. The coffee taste better, and we’re talking short haul airplane coffee, the air is crisper, the sun on the tarmac, warmer. Kinder maybe...
Read MoreThe Pitti Uomo 93 Diaries: Finnish Design, the International Woolmark Prize and Be Still My Gucci Beating Heart
On the first official day of the 93rd edition of Pitti Uomo, and my second day on the ground in Florence, I found quite a lot of inspiration coming from Guest Nation Finland, the International Woolmark prize with its multicultural designers and the wonderful universe that has been created by Alessandro Michele, the creative director of Gucci. I mean, any man confident enough to wear a golden tiara is A-alright in my book. Even I am weary of those things and find it difficult to incorporate them into my daily wardrobe, so I can’t even begin to imagine how he managed. The conversation alone with himself in the mirror, that I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall for! Alessandro Michele is my fashion idol.
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