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Paris 2024 Delegation Attend Cannes Film Festival

A leadership delegation from Paris’ bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games this week attended the 70th Cannes Film Festival.  Mayor Anne Hidalgo along with bid Co-Chairs Tony Estanguet and Bernard Lapasset were among those invited by Festival President Pierre Lescure to climb the famed 24 steps of the red carpet.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Bid Co-Chair Tony Estanguet (center) among Paris 2024 delegation at Cannes Film Festival (GB Photo)
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Bid Co-Chair Tony Estanguet (center) among Paris 2024 delegation at Cannes Film Festival (Paris 2024 Photo)

The event was held at the Palais des Festivals, and later there was an outdoor screening of the film Chariots of Fire at the Cinéma de la Plage, the Oscar winning 1981 film about two British athletes competing at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.  Paris is aiming to host the centenary version of the those depicted Games and the French Capital is opposed only by Los Angeles, another city leveraging its cinematic prowess to plead its case to host the Games.

A number of Paris 2024 athlete ambassadors also joined the delegation in Cannes.

Hidalgo said Wednesday “Cinema, like the sport, is a formidable way to share emotions.”

“Paris is proud to be one of the cinema capitals of the world with the city providing the backdrop for greatest number of film shoots and one of the highest numbers of cinemas per capita of any city.”

“Hosting hundreds of filmmakers and their crews every year, and screening films from every country every day, this is one of the ways in which our city opens itself up to new perspectives and enriches itself with other cultures.”

Lapasset added “Sport and culture share a common theme – both take viewers on an emotional journey. Athletes, like actors, are performers and when they step onto the track they invite spectators to share in the experience with them.”

Both Paris and Los Angeles are set to make presentations to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 11 and 12 before facing a final vote for the winning bid September 13 in Lima, Peru.  The IOC, however, is considering awarding both the 2024 and 2028 Games to the two cities and will reveal some of those plans at a meeting in the Olympic Capital of Lausanne on June 9.

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