Well I’m back from Cannes via Nice and Venice and am still on a cloud. Here’s some pix of my time there, including the red carpet, the onstage bow, the standing ovation, pandemonium outside, meeting Roger Ebert, and our young star putting everything in perspective! (For newcomers, this is about the premiere of LIFE, ABOVE ALL, the film adaptation of my nobel CHANDA’S SECRETS published by Annick Press.)

First I gotta say that Cannes is pretty chic. (Although these shots don’t quite capture how frenetic it is around the Palais where Official Selections are screened.) The pix are from balconies inside the Palais that I accessed thanks to my magic badge which opened the most amazing doors.

First we were taken for official photographs. Left to right, the women: Harriet Manamela (Mrs. Tafa), our star Khomotso Manyake (Chanda) and Lerato Mvelase (Mama). the men: Greg Buckle (S.A. producer), Oliver Stoltz (German producer) me, Dennis Foon (good friend and screenwriter) and Oliver Schmitz (director)…

Then up the red carpet…

Then paraded on stage for a pre-screening bow…

After the film, pandemonium. A standing ovation…

Things got a little teary at the ten minute mark…

Outside, more pandemonium…

Meeting Roger Ebert, a major fan. Wow!…

At a chi-chi lunch with the team…

Dennis and I catch a breather by the Cannes poster…

At the team dinner dinner that night, thirteen-year-old Khomotso put everything in perspective…