In 1968 cannes was closed by godard and the cashier du cinema. this is the event unfolding. it is monumental in the context of cinema as art.

(Simultaneous translation. Sorry about my English, hope it will be understandable)

Voice : The French Cinema Information and Action Assembly on May the 17th, 1968, gathering more than a thousand professionals, taking place at the School for Photography and Cinematography, rue de Vaugirard (7th arrondissement), …

Narrator: The festival de Cannes had been over 15 days ago. 21 years ago, the fever that had taken Paris also invaded La Croisette, with the arrival of loads of enthusiastic and willing to fight French directors – with heads such as Truffaut, Godard, Albicocco, Louis Malle, Claude Berri and Polanski, all of them willing to be heard, to change the rules of the Game. Atmosphere was hot, and debate too : shall the Festival be interrupted ? To be noticed : this precise year, "Gone with the wind" opened the Festival.

Milos Forman qui présente "Au feu les pompiers".

MF: I understand one thing, I have to withdraw my movie from the Festival

Applause.

Man voice: We want a Comity in order to Reform Cinema right now.

Godard: I don't know. I believe that everything that is dignified and important stops in France, and I don't know how to do that but we have to find a way to announce – as far as French newspapers are not delivered anymore – but radio, at least, should announce that the Festival is interrupted. If we do not announce that the Festival is interrupted, things have to be announced clearly : the Festival is deeply modified. Because as seen from outside, le Festival de Cannes, well, you know what it is…

Laughters.

It is Eddy Barclay's party. People have to understand that it is over. We still have to shape the whole thing. But to my point of view, shape has to be found outside this building.

Polanski : If we call Mister Chanson, he's gonna gather us all in the jury's chamber.

Godard : He can gather outside than in Abbé Gomme's. He can gather here. They can come here, the members of the jury.
[Not sure about this one]
Laughters

Polanski : Jean-Luc, Jean-Luc, what you're telling me reminds me a lot of what I have been living in Poland, during a period described as "stalinian".

Godard : Yeah but Stalinism is different in each country.

Polanski, bored : Well, go on…

Guy from the public : Festival is over but we're in. We chose our position. Your presence here proves it. This room is ours now. It is ours.

Polanski: I say, if you want to interrupt the Festival, go ahead. But who is gonna know that Festival is interrupted ? Few people will know that. And you wanna hear the truth? People do not care about the Festival.

- Radio gives news hour after hour. It is announced that factories close, that trains do not work anymore – now it is gonna be metros and buses – so if it is announced hour after hour that the Festival de Cannes goes on, then it's strictly ridiculous.

- We are asking that the three members of the jury that are here go and fetch the other members.
Applause
There is not even one movie that tells about workers or students contemporary problems. There's not one movie directed by Forman, me, Polanski or François (Truffaut) We are late. Our student comrades showed us the way by being beaten up one week ago. There's no point in asking ourselves should we go on or not…
Booed
… watching movies. To me, it is obvious that we should go on watching as many movies as we can. That is not the question. We have to show, being more than one week late, that cinema walks hand in hand with students and handworkers in France. The one solution : immediately stop showing movies. [May sound contradictory. Even in French]

Assistance: Let us vote.

- Who wants that the Festival stops ?

Assistance: noises.

- We are talking about solidarity with students, with handworkers, and you're telling me about travellings and closed shots? You are pricks.

Woman voice: please, one after the other. Otherwise we on't manage to understand.

Man from the public (Jean-Louis B.): there are many people in Cannes, wealthy people as they work in the cinema. Our critic comrades will have troubles paying their accommodation bill. Could they make the Cannes producers pay ? …

Laughters. Applause.

… This sounds like a very democratic solution to me.

Member of the jury: The Festival jury has decided that, considering the quitting of four of its members, he could not "function" anymore. So it stopped functioning.

Applause.

Angry man: Tell me. Why, because of you, because of a minority, we cannot watch the movies we wanted to watch here?

Member of the jury: I propose that the French Cinematheque Defense Comity becomes the French Cinema Defense Comity.
Puffy man : What about the Czech movie you bought ? [uneasy to understand. I don't understand which movie he alludes to]

- Well we took it out from competition though it was almost sure that it would be in the jury's choice.

Puffy man gets booed : Let me finish. Let me finish. What about your movie ? Will you take it out from the selection ?

- Yes. I will.

Puffy man: Well this I don't believe because you sold it under two constraints…

Lots of noises. "Let go the mic". Can't get what he says.

Woman with sunglasses: At this very precise moment, France pretends it is the Peace country. I want a peace conference in Paris. Then: our job is to entertain people. So what are we doing? I heard about solidarity with the students. But what the hell is the relationship between students and our job?

Angry people: You cannot do that. You do not have the right to. The whole room is on our side.

OTHER SCENE :

- Do you know what you're bringing to Cannes? Your sex movies.
- It's scandalous.
- The scandal is you
- Why do you scream if you're so sure about yourself?
- Because. There are some people thinking differently in France. You have to take a look at it. Go and make your little business you bunch of…
- Calm down, calm down. We must all calm down.

Confusion. "Claude, non, non".

Narrator: the tall one, that absolutely wants to talk, is Claude Berri.

- Please let me talk. Listen to me. Today, take the festival flyer. In it, there is one full page that we paid for. You can understand we did not come here to create a scandal. There are events in France. We can't ignore them. That is all. And you should be on our side.

Macha Meril: We think that it is not an appropriate time to care about cinema.

Man voice : And anyways, the most interesting movies are not programmed anymore.

Macha Meril says the same. Then: Students don't want any final exams, we don't want any competition.

Note on the paper: "All movie sessions are cancelled today"

Man from the Festival : As circumstances do not allow movies to be shown in normal conditions, administration of the Festival has decided to interrupt the Festival and begs for foreign competitors pardon. The Administration declares unanimously that the 21st international movie Festival is over, Sunday the 19th.

Narrator: "Les dés sont jetés" (Fate is decided) Will there be a Festival next year? Will the business side of it overwhelm? Will the intellectual side win? Anyways, the Festival will change.

this is the radest thing i think ive ever seen...
thank you caroline thank you thank you thank you.. everything is bright.