The Riviera and the 7th Art: Cannes at its Best!

May 31, 2013

Dear Friends,

The interior of the Palais des Festivals

Last time I was there, I ate lunch at a café table next to Michael Douglas and a beautiful model. I watched a very young and shy Isabelle Adjani being interviewed in the lobby of the Carlton Hotel. I gaped at a rather large Shelley Winters, a faded beauty who still radiated charm, sunbathing on the meticulously raked sand. Yes, that was Cannes in 1975—the film festival, that is.

Returning this year, I found the Festival to be a whole new world: extensive at 27,000 attendees, multi-cultural in its audience and offerings, more extravagant than ever in its private parties, more exclusive than ever in its accreditations. The Cannes Film Festival is the number one film industry event of the year, ahead of Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, and Venice. Reserved for professionals, it is a unique glimpse on the world of the 7th art—from the creative and production aspects to the finance and business angles.

The country pavilions in the International Village, Cannes

With special permission to develop an educational program focused on the Festival, I sported my accreditation badge and was given access to the off-limits-to-the-public Palais des Festivals, to the many screenings on offer through the main competition and all the side-competitions (“Un Certain Regard”, La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, and La Semaine des Critiques), to the International Village housing tented pavilions for most countries on Earth and to the award ceremonies for each category. What a thrill!

I sat in the seat in front of Max Von Sydow during the screening of a restored version of The Desert of Tartars. Richard Dreyfus spoke to us about his first film ever. Forest Whitaker came to the stage at an award ceremony to support a protégé who won an award. Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger and House of Flying Daggers star) presented an award as a member of a jury. In screenings, I sat within seats of Alexander Payne (director of Sideways and The Descendants) and James Franco. And then there were the impromptu encounters: Mariel Hemingway came right out of a store into my path, panicking that she had lost a ring. Squeezing past a throng of people, I found myself behind Kim Novak as she was whisked into a car.

The real thrill came when the three teenage actors of La Jaula d’Oro (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2042583/), a superb Mexican movie about an ill-fated journey from the slums of a Guatemalan village to Los Angeles, won the Un Certain Regard Prize for best talent. There stood the heroes of this tragic tale—from shanty town escapees to black-tie attendees–accepting awards from cinema luminaries on a light-flooded stage. My heart filled with pride for their accomplishment!

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My heroes from La Jaula de Oro!

Cannes is a glamorous backdrop for the festival. La Croisette, the main promenade along the Mediterranean, sparkles with elegant party venues. The grand dame hotels like the Carlton and the Martinez percolate with stars coming and going, while security is at an all-time high. The International Village lines the sea behind the Palais, looking like a lavish medieval encampment with flags of many nations flapping over tented peaks. Here each country hosts film buyers, producers, directors and aspiring filmmakers for information sessions, private cocktail parties and happy hours on their individual seaside terraces.

The Carlton during the Festival, Cannes

The Carlton during the Festival, Cannes

If there is one thing I found most surprising about my experience in Cannes, it is the nature of the attendees. As a non-professional, I expected I would find vanity and pretention in ample quantity. Instead, as I stood in line for screenings or visited the various international pavilions, I met one person after another whose modesty, forthrightness and genuine enthusiasm for their work impressed me and made me fall in love with Cannes and its Festival all over again.

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Tribute to the Sands of Egypt

July 12, 2010

In Nubia, with Gracious Host

Dear Friends,

The tale of the Egyptian Prince Tutmosis III and his encounter with the Sphinx of Giza fascinates me.  On a hunting trip in the Valley of the Gazelles some time before his reign, Tutmosis III decided to take a nap to escape the midday sun. He chose the shade below the head (the only visible section) of the Great Sphinx of Giza.  While he slept, the Sphinx spoke to him and told him that, if he dug the Sphinx out of the sand that covered it, he would be assured the throne of Egypt.  So Tutmosis III set to work and excavated the Sphinx, the very first restoration of this site, undertaken circa 1400 BCE. The story of this dream is recounted on the stelae at the Sphinx’s feet.

What captivates me about this tale is the fact that, even in 1400 BCE, the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza were already ancient, having existed since Great Sphinx of Giza with Dream Stelae between its Feet2650 BCE, and that the protective layers of desert sand had already buried all but the Sphinx’s head over the preceding 1200 years.

Egypt’s ancient wonders abound, but it is not until you stand within inches of the deeply carved cartouches of Ramses II in Karnak or the stunning turquoise of painted vulture wings on Hatshepsut’s Temple, or the intricate delicacy of King Tutankhamen’s jewelry, that the impossibility overwhelms you.  How can such beauty have survived 2000, 3000, 4000 years? 

Vivid colors of a Vulture's Plumage on Hatshepsut's Temple

Entering the imposing structure of Ramses III Temple, there is a series of chapels to the left.  Little color remains, and the carvings seem simplified, unremarkable.  It turns out, these chapels date to Alexander the Great’s time—circa 332 BCE. Modern, by Egyptian standards!  Yet paling in comparison to the elaborate scenes of battle and power depicted on Ramses III’s own temple walls.

Deep in the Temple of Luxor (circa 1400 BCE), past the small area that once served as a chapel for Roman soldiers during the 3rd century CE, there is a shrine built by Alexander the Great, depicting the Greek king as a pharaoh.  Here, you can stand between the outer wall built by Amenhotep III and the inner wall of the Greek shrine.  Within a couple of feet of each other, the contrast is sharp: over a 1000 years pass from the time the Egyptian outer wall was carved to the time the Greeks erect their shrine. Yet, Alexander the Great’s craftsmen lose this contest: their work appears amateurish at best.

It’s not often that Alexander the Great comes across as lacking accomplishment.  Yet ancient Egypt puts many more modern cultures to shame.  Even the Romans, who seemed to lack the respect and interest Alexander showed Egyptian culture, appear boorish and uncultured in comparison.  The Roman chapel within the Temple of Luxor is made of scavenged temple stones, betrayed by the upside down body parts and images carved on their surfaces.

Image of Ramses III on his Temple

Reflecting on all the perfection that bears tribute to Egypt’s royal ancestors, I can’t help but wonder what we have lost over time in sophistication, technique, and ambition. And I rejoice in the protective benefits of the sands of Egypt—without them, what treasures would have been lost to humankind!

For information on our educational journeys to Egypt, please visit
http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/tours/egyptianodyssey2010/
.

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Kate Simpson on the Smithsonian Journeys blog

July 6, 2009

Below is the latest blog from Kate Simpson, President of Academic Travel Abroad as seen on the
Smithsonian Journeys blog page:

China: Understanding Etiquette

July 1st, 2009 by Kate Simpson

Kate Simpson is President of Academic Travel Abroad, where she began her career as a China Program Manager in 1998 after completing a degree in East Asian Studies from Yale and a post-graduate fellowship in Chinese literature. Kate loves to travel to hidden corners of the countries she loves most, like Haute Savoie in alpine France or the Ming villages near Huangshan in China. Click here for more on Kate.

A James Cox gilded birdcage clock in the Forbidden City's Hall of Clocks and Watches, Beijing. Photo: Flickr gruntzooki.

A James Cox gilded birdcage clock in the Forbidden City's Hall of Clocks and Watches, Beijing. Photo: Flickr gruntzooki.

I always chuckle when I visit the Hall of Clocks and Watches in Beijing’s Forbidden City, which features gifts to Chinese emperors presented by foreign envoys. In Mandarin Chinese, the words “give a clock” (song zhong) can also mean “sending one to one’s end.” For this reason, traditionally, clocks and time pieces are not considered the best choices as gifts for Chinese friends. Diplomacy without language comprehension or an understanding of proper etiquette can pose challenges!

As a student of China, I loved using the Mandarin skills I had to navigate cultural differences with Chinese counterparts. However, language alone doesn’t always help. As with all cultures, body language, actions, and rituals convey more information than words alone. And when it comes to eating and drinking, the Chinese are emperors of protocol! Certainly, formal banquets are different from a casual meal with friends, but generally, here are some tips that help me keep my relations with the Chinese untainted by faux pas:

• At a banquet, hosts and guests have very clearly defined places at the (usually) round table. The host always sits in the seat facing the door. His or her guest of honor sits to his or her left. To the host’s right, the next important guest is seated (or the interpreter if there is a need).

• If toasts begin, make sure to lift your glass so that it touches below the rim of the person’s with whom you are toasting. This is a sign of respect.

• If you have had enough to drink and your hosts are insisting on another “gan bei” (dry your glass: a shot), say the two words “sui yi” (as you wish) and take a modest sip. This is usually something women can get away with more easily than men and it indicates that they respectfully decline to down their glass.

• Always leave something on your plate to indicate you have plenty to eat. Make it clear that you consider the meal very ample. This gives your host “face.”

• If the dinner is not a banquet, when the bill comes, it is customary to fight noisily over it with the other party, and let the party who did not pay for your last meal together pick up the tab eventually. But you need to put on a good show of it! This play-acting takes place regularly in Chinese restaurants across the world. You’ll know it’s your turn after the next meal—and fight.

• When your guest leaves the banquet hall or restaurant, the host should walk them out to the door, often repeating “man zou, man zou” (go slowly).

Many of the more traditional protocols are fading with China’s more relaxed approach to relations with foreigners. However, erring on the side of formality is never a problem in a country whose pride in its heritage and traditions runs deep.

Now that you know, try these tips for yourself. Click here for travel to China.


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