- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday May 12 2004 11.26 BST
Bad Education ... but not the bit featured in the EU film.
The protests that looked set to bedevil the 57th Cannes film festival appear to have been averted after the events organisers offered a number of last-minute concessions to part-time French film workers.
Up to 600 protesters have been granted the use of a local theatre as a meeting place and will be allowed to make public speeches during the festival.
The film workers are incensed over reforms to unemployment insurance that drastically reduce state benefits for actors, stagehands and crew members during their periods between jobs.
At the weekend, French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin was forced to intercede in the dispute, insisting that he was "committed to the survival" of the unemployment fund.
In the meantime the stars are gathering for what promises to be an unusually star-laden event. Hollywood guests include Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron, Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers, while this year's film line-up promises more populist fare than has been seen in recent years.
Festival president Gilles Jacob yesterday claimed that his aim was to provide a showcase for "popular auteur films, or if you prefer, intelligent popular films." But he added, "as always the difficulty comes in respecting the balance and that's what we're trying to do."
The 57th Cannes film festival opens today with the premiere of Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education. It closes on May 22 with a screening of the Cole Porter biopic De-lovely, starring Kevin Kline.
