Potential labor strikes and protests loom over Cannes Film Festival

Workers at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in France are reportedly planning to protest and strike just two weeks before the event, potentially overshadowing celebrity red carpet events and movie premieres. According to a report from Deadline, around 200 French film festival workers, including those from Cannes and other festivals across France, are organizing protests. The protests are being led by a union representing film festival workers called Sous Les Écrans La Dèche: Collectif Des Précaires Des Festivals De Cinéma. The workers are unhappy with their compensation, claiming they are not paid a living wage and do not qualify for France’s unemployment insurance program for entertainment workers and technicians. The protests are expected to take place on the main stretch of the city throughout the 12-day festival, as well as at sidebar events. Despite the potential labor disruptions, Cannes will still showcase highly anticipated premieres of films such as “Furiosa,” the prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Megalopolis” by Francis Ford Coppola, and “Horizon: An American Saga” by Kevin Costner.