Above: Climate protest at Cannes from Extinction Rebellon
XR France and UK rebels joined forces to disrupt the advertising industry festival, Cannes Lions. The group of 25-30 French, one German, and 7 UK rebels were elated at the actions they managed to pull off and the attention they brought to the climate crisis. Planning time was short, but that didn’t stop them from causing a scene.
UK (and even French) rebels were somewhat surprised by the security of the event. Police presence was insistent, firm and repressive. The police made it very clear they were aware of XR and would be all over any demonstrations.
Rebels arriving to the festival by bus were greeted at the bus stop by armed officers, who held them for ID checks. Later on, a group of 20 rebels gathering peacefully well outside the restricted zone were penned in and held for half an hour by about 15 armed officers, for no clear legal reason. Police intelligence officers even paid a special visit to the rebels’ campsite to let them know that protests do not succeed at the festival, despite many activists having tried in the past.
Rebels were a little daunted by these intimidation tactics, but nonetheless were determined to take up the challenge in high spirits.
The beginning of XR’s dialogue with the ad industry seemed almost too good to be true, as four rebels were invited to a meeting with the CEO of the festival, who made various offers to arrange a more legal platform for XR’s message. However, when these promises turned out to be as hollow as many suspected they would be, the group took the matter into their own hands and quickly got to work planning some showstopping actions.
Our first action on Wednesday was quite tame and symbolic, partly to probe the police response. 5 rebels stood outside a big mural celebrating Cannes festivals, holding ‘see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil’ poses. This mural was down the road from a major regional newspaper, as the rebels wanted to draw attention to the repression of freedom of speech. To its credit, that paper responded and stepped up that day to cover the protests. To give an idea of the tension, there was also a ‘fake action’ planned, since the group had reason to suspect the police were listening in on their meetings.
Things really kicked off that day with a banner drop over the giant Cannes sign (at top of summary) and a red carpet sit-in in front of the ‘Palace’. French rebels jumped the barrier to run up and block the stairs to the main, red-carpeted entrance. They sat, linked together and chanting messages of truth, before being carried off by police down the stairs. Even photographers and onlookers were not safe from the overbearing gendarmes, as rebels were arrested under dubious legality for ‘showing solidarity’ for the protest. The lines between legal and illegal seemed to blur with the police’s efforts to keep XR out of sight of the festival.
On the positive side, the 14 arrested rebels report having a long, productive discussion with an equal number of police officers at the station, expanding on the climate crisis and why XR felt the need to act. French rebels note this as a real highlight of the week; they felt like they experienced a real breakthrough with the officers.