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dam-l Arundhati Roy brings Naramada to Cannes



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subject: LS: Roy Brings the Narmada to Cannes . . .
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		      Novelist seeks to bring a sense of reality to Cannes

                                       The Guardian

                                       Thursday May 11, 2000

                                       Arundhati Roy brought a sharp 
dose of reality to the Cannes film festival
                                       yesterday by calling for an end 
to a massive Indian dam project she said
                                       would impoverish millions of 
the world's poorest people.

                                       The emotional plea from the 
Booker prize-winning novelist - a member of
                                       the jury which will decide the 
Palme d'Or - came as a typically Cannes
                                       tantrum over a ban on late 
night beach parties threatened to overshadow the
                                       first day of the festival.

                                       Roy, 36, who was a screenwriter 
in India before The God of Small Things
                                       brought her worldwide fame, 
said that having just arrived from the
                                       Narmada valley in central 
India, where farmers have been arrested for
                                       protesting against their land 
being flooded, she found it "hard to connect" to
                                       the media circus of Cannes.

                                       She said: "I have just come 
from a world where terrible things are
                                       happening and the lives of 
millions of people are being ruined. One journeys
                                       between powerlessness and 
power. I wish that only a few of the cameramen
                                       and journalists who are here 
today could have been in the Narmada valley to
                                       witness the terrible things I 
have been seeing."

                                       Roy, who has campaigned against 
the network of 165 dams, the world's
                                       biggest, since she won the 
Booker three years ago, said: "It's a sign of the
                                       times that I have been called 
an activist here today. It's a writer's business
                                       to comment on the world we live 
in - but when you do you get called an
                                       activist."

                                       She said the dam would be an 
environmental as well as an economic disaster
                                       for the valley, swamping a 
150-mile stretch of some of the most beautiful
                                       and fertile land in India.

                                       Her comments were met with an 
awkward silence in the Palais du Cinema,
                                       where the main films in the 
Cannes competition are shown. Roy was hurried
                                       out of the building by security 
guards when the Guardian tried to question
                                       her further.


		      The Independent, London
                                       11 May 2000

		          Moral responsibility (and early closing)
                                           give the first day of 
Cannes an unusual
                                           sobriety

                                           The organisers of the 
opening day of the world's most
                                           glamorous film festival 
didn't know what hit them yesterday, as
                                           movie glitz and excess came 
under attack from all directions.

                                           First, the Cannes 
festival's decision to have a Booker
                                           Prize-winning political 
activist on the jury rebounded when
                                           Arundhati Roy told the 
journalists and photographers at the
                                           opening press conference 
that they should be elsewhere in
                                           the world "where terrible 
things are happening".

                                           Next, the town's mayor 
decided to order all beach parties to
                                           end just after midnight. 
And then, with a French prime minister
                                           visiting the festival for 
the first time, police went into overdrive,
                                           raiding incoming trains to 
weed out undesirables.

                                           It was down to the 
Hollywood actress Uma Thurman, starring
                                           in the opening film Vatel, 
to smile seductively and say: "I love
                                           France and I love this 
festival. It celebrates film and utterly
                                           indulges the highest levels 
of glamour." But she must have
                                           wondered if she'd come to 
the right place.

                                           It was Roy, the author of 
The God of Small Things, who first
                                           set the cat among the 
pigeons. Flanked on the festival jury by
                                           performers Kristin Scott 
Thomas and Jeremy Irons, and
                                           directors Luc Besson and 
Jonathan Demme, she admitted
                                           she was not part of the 
film world. She said she had just come
                                           from the Narmada Valley in 
south India where there had been
                                           anti-government protests 
against the construction of a
                                           massive dam.

                                           In an emotional and 
impassioned outburst she said she felt it
                                           hard "to connect" between 
that and the glamour of Cannes.
                                           She said: "To be honest, 
I've just come from a world where
                                           terrible things are 
happening. One journeys between
                                           powerlessness and power. I 
so wish that all the cameramen
                                           and all the journalists 
[here] were in the places where terrible
                                           things were happening."

                                           Having been reminded of 
their moral responsibilities, the
                                           movie world was also 
reminded of the need for sobriety.
                                           Cannes' mayor, Maurice 
Delauney, sent off a memo to hotels
                                           and party organisers 
informing them that all beach parties (the
                                           high point in Cannes glitz 
and exclusivity) must end promptly at
                                           12.30am.

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