CANNES FILM FESTIVAL ON HIGH ALERT
The 69th edition of the annual Cannes Film Festival opens today under close surveillance. Following two major terrorist attacks in France in 2015, the festival and the city have amped up security by adding hundreds of additional police and military officers who have been given special anti-terrorist training.
According to Le Monde, which quotes Cannes chief of police, Pierre Boutillon, one of the training exercises included a simulation of a terrorist attack at the festival’s main venue, the Palais des Festivals. A video of the simulation, which took place on April 21 and involved 200 volunteers, shows four armed men opening fire as they run up the stairs of the Palais.
In 1978 a bomb attack at the Palais des Festival was thwarted by French authorities.
Increased security at this year’s festival, including bag checks and metal detectors, will mean long lines to enter screenings and extended wait-times between movies. 45,000 people are expected to attend the festival which runs from May 11–22.
