Backstage at Cannes, party preparations begin

By James Mackenzie

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Behind the scenes as the Cannes film festival kicked off on Wednesday, a small army of support staff scrambled to complete preparations for the parties and receptions that put much of the glamour into the Croisette.

"You have to think of every detail," said party organizer Celia Gumbau, standing in one of the lavish beachside tents that will house a stream of lunches, meetings, parties and interviews throughout the two weeks of the festival.

"This morning we were thinking of flowers, but the big emergency has been how to find candles," she said.

Cannes may be best known as the spiritual home of European art-house cinema, but it feeds off the celebrity power of Hollywood, and star-studded parties are as much a part of the festival as the films themselves.

Gumbau, who grew up in Cannes but started her career working at the celebrated Paris nightclub les Bains Douches, is in charge of the events at two venues run by the resort chain Nikki Beach during the festival.

A grueling marathon awaits her 100 or so staff as they shift the decor for a constant stream of events ranging from a celebrity poker tournament with veteran Hollywood wildman Dennis Hopper to a select dinner for the Belgian art-house directors the Dardenne brothers.

The workers, comprising the most experienced staff from the group's hotels, stay in rented apartments in nearby Juan-les-Pins, and the atmosphere appeared buoyant as the countdown began.

But the schedule is punishing, and with some of cinema's biggest names to please, there is no room for error.