Cannes Film Festival bans Selfies

Red carpet of 2017's closing ceremony of Cannes Film Festival. Photo by James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock (8847998cy)

Artistic director Thierry Fremaux has added an interesting new rule to the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Selfies on the red carpet are no longer allowed.

He told Le Film Francis magazine on Friday: “On the red carpet, the trivial aspect and the slowing down provoked by the disorder which these selfies create tarnishes the quality of [the red carpet experience] and of the festival as a whole.”

It’s not clear how the ban will be enforced as mobile phones are permitted at the event and photos, in general, are allowed.. just no selfies.

On top of the selfie ban, the festival has also banned press screenings during the day prior to gala premiers. This means that journalists will have to view all films along with the guests at the 7 pm screenings in the Debussy theatre. This change was made as a way of boosting the prestige of gala premieres. Fremaux said that the idea was to “revamp the attractiveness of and gloss gala evenings.”

The festival will commence on Tuesday 8th May and the closing ceremony will take place on Saturday. The event will mark the 71st edition of the festival and the official selection will be announced on April 12th.