A few weeks ago, I was followed on Twitter by a mysterious character tweeting under the name @LifeOfJacques, who hit me up with this entertaining tweet regarding his relationship with the one and only, Serge Gainsbourg.

The story circulating about this guy is that he is French film producer/director and quintessential playboy, Jacques D'Azur, who reportedly "disappeared while vacationing in the South Pacific. Jacques set sail on his yacht ‘Bridgette et Anna' off Tahiti. After brief radio contact, there has been no further signs of Jacques or his yacht. Jacques D'Azur has been a fixture in the French film world for over 30 years, and is well known for his lavish lifestyle and parties during the Festival De Cannes," and is thus known widely as the "King of Cannes".

"What an interesting story!" I thought to myself. Having been pretty familiar with French cinema for about a decade, I then thought "Why have I never heard of this dude?" and "Why is nobody talking about this?" Well, a few days later I got an email explaining to watch the video below and that it's all part of some big promotion by Stella Artois to give away an all-inclusive free trip for 2 to Cannes for Luxury VIP Red Carpet treatment at the Cannes Film Festival.


I was sad because I wanted Jacques to be real. I wanted for him to be found and for us to be Twitter buddies forever, but hey, I'll settle for a free trip to the French Riviera for the most renowned film festival in the world.

To enter the contest for yourself, follow this link: http://bit.ly/JacquesdAzur

Despite the fact that neither Joann Sfar's Gainsbourg (vie héroïque) nor the rumored premiere of his much-anticipated animated version of his hugely successful comic, "The Rabbi's Cat", there are still some amazing films being show at the festival (full line-up below).

In competition:

Mathieu Amalric - TOURNEE
Xavier Beauvois - DES HOMMES ET DES DIEUX
Rachid Bouchareb - HORS LA LOI
Alejandro Gonzalez - IÑÁRRITU BIUTIFUL
Mahamat-Saleh - HAROUN UN HOMME QUI CRIE
IM Sangsoo - HOUSEMAID
Abbas Kiarostami- COPIE CONFORME
Takeshi Kitano - OUTRAGE
Lee Chang-dong - POETRY
Mike Leigh - ANOTHER YEAR
Doug Liman - FAIR GAME
Sergei Loznitsa - YOU. MY JOY
Daniele Luchetti - LA NOSTRA VITA
Nikita Mikhalkov - UTOMLYONNYE SOLNTSEM
Bertrand Tavernier - LA PRINCESSE DE MONTPENSIER
Apichatpong Weerasethakul - LOONG BOONMEE RALEUK CHAAT

Un Certain Regard:

Derek Cianfrance - BLUE VALENTINE
Manoel De Oliveira - O ESTRANHO CASO DE ANGÉLICA
Xavier Dolan - LES AMOURS IMAGINAIRES
Ivan Fund - LOZA LOS LABIOS
Fabrice Gobert - SIMON WERNER A DISPARU
Jean-Luc Godard - FILM SOCIALISME
Christoph Hochhausler - UNTER DIR DIE STADT
Lodge Kerrigan - REBECCA H. (RETURN TO THE DOGS)
Ágnes Kocsis - PÁL ADRIENN
Vikramaditya Motwane - UDAAN
Radu Muntean - MARTI, DUPA CRACIUN
Hideo Nakata - CHATROOM
Cristi Puiu - AURORA
Hong Sangsoo - HA HA HA
Oliver Schmitz - LIFE ABOVE ALL
Daniel Vega - OCTUBRE
David Verbeek - R U THERE
Xiaoshuai Wang - RIZHAO CHONGQING

Out of Competition:

Ridley Scott - ROBIN HOOD
Woody Allen - YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER
Stephen Frears - TAMARA DREWE
Oliver Stone - WALL STREET - MONEY NEVER SLEEPS
Gregg Araki - KABOOM
Gilles Marchand - L'AUTRE MONDE

Special Screenings:

Charles Ferguson - INSIDE JOB
Sophie Fiennes - OVER YOUR CITIES GRASS WILL GROW
Patricio Guzman - NOSTALGIA DE LA LUZ
Sabina Guzzanti - DRAQUILA -- L'ITALIA CHE TREMA
Otar Iosseliani - CHANTRAPAS
Diego Luna - ABEL

So... if these films don't convince you it's worth entering the contest, maybe the prizes will. Read all about  the details below.

Prize (1): Trip for winner and one (1) guest to attend the Festival de Cannes in France. Trip consists of round-trip first-class air transportation for two (2) (from gateway city nearest winner's home), five star double-occupancy hotel accommodations for two (2) nights, transportation to/from winners home to the airport and to/from airport to the hotel, a personally tailored suit or dress for the winner, two (2) entertainment activities for winner and guest, one (1) prize bag with Stella Artois merchandise , two (2) tickets to an opening or closing gala at the Palm D'or Awards, exclusive VIP film festival screenings and all inclusive meals and beverages. Travel must be completed between May 12, 2010 and May 23, 2010.

Tailored suit

Cannes Film Festival is the height of glamour and luxury, when powerful movie producers and beautiful movie stars jet in to the Riviera to compete over who is more glamorous, most cool and most popular.

Cannes has always been this way, but there was one man who really kicked it all off back in the 1960s – the great Jacques d’Azur, who was recently lost at sea. Jacques was the guy everyone wanted to be, or be with, including the movie stars around him. What he did one year at the festival the likes of Brando, McQueen and Newman copied the next year. And Jacques was always impeccably dressed. It was rumored that each night he’d have a new suit tailored in his room. His favorite was the tuxedo, and he wore it well. Looking just as good at the end of the night as he did at the start – no matter what he got up to. He once water-skied from a party on a yacht back to shore and never got so much as a drop of water on his tux. It’s no coincidence that Jacques and his impeccable tuxedo, share a similar look to a certain British secret agent that popped up in movies a year or so later. Sadly Cannes will be without Jacques d’Azur this year, but a search is underway to find a mysterious heir mentioned in his last will and testament. No doubt this lucky heir will be taking Jacques’ place at Cannes and be looking forward to having his tuxedo tailored d’Azur style.

Helicopter pick up

For the jetset movie star going to the Cannes Film Festival is like a hop skip and a jump, or more accurately a hop, skip, and stroll. A first class flight to the south of France, followed by a quick helicopter ride to Cannes harbor and a short walk to check in to your suite at the five star hotel. Of course it wasn’t always like this, people used to arrive by yacht or drive from the airport, all very well but not quite up to the pace of the jetset. In fact it wasn’t until the 1960s that helicopter taxis from the airport to Cannes began. And that was all down to one man – Jacques d’Azur. He was the first true triple threat star of his day - actor, director , producer. And he was the people’s King of Cannes, handsome, talented and smart, very smart. He was always one step ahead of everyone else, so it came as no surprise when he made a stylishly late arrival to the 1960 festival. Just as everyone was thinking he might not turn up, he swooped over the hills in a bubble helicopter and landed at the end of the harbor on a temporary helipad. That temporary helipad stayed there until the early 70s, because the next year it was almost Cannes Film Festival custom to arrive by helicopter. Sadly this year’s festival will not have Jacques hovering over the beach, as the great Jacques d’Azur has disappeared, presumed lost at sea, while manning his yacht in rough weather. But there could well be some lucky person taking his seat in the chopper this year, as Jacques’ will left his glamorous weekend in Cannes to an unknown heir. It is rumored this lucky person could be almost anyone and may not even know about Jacques d’Azur. Rest assured if this person does come forward, they will thank him as they soar over Cannes.

1st class flights

We’re used to our movie stars jetting all over the world and in the best possible style, flat beds, mile high bars serving perfect ice cold beers, even onboard massages and chefs. And nowhere brings out the quest for luxury in movie stars, quite like the Cannes Film Festival. But the style and luxury used to be all about when you where actually in Cannes, not before you even got there. That all changed with the rise of the jetset in the 60s. And no one was more jetset amongst the jetset than Jacques d’Azur. He was the preeminent actor/producer/director/bon vivant of the 60s. And with homes in the world’s most wonderful and exotic locations, he did his fair share of flying. But Jacques liked to travel in style, and he would often bring his own luxuries on board, and those early airlines he flew with took note. He is said to be the inspiration behind such things as air stewardesses, flat beds and in-flight movies - He premiered of one of his movies on a flight with friends from New York to Cannes, with the help of his very own projector. There are other things that remain with us allegedly of Jacques invention. Jacques used to charter an airplane to take him across the airport runway to the international terminal of airports, without the plane ever taking off. He called them his ‘taxis’. Unfortunately Jacques will not be flying to Cannes this year, or indeed anywhere else in the world, as he has been declared lost at sea while manning his yacht in bad weather. Interestingly he did leave a last will and testament, which in true Jacques style has cause a commotion. He has left his amazing weekend at the Cannes film festival, including the luxury flight to the Riviera, to an unknown heir. There are clues to who this lucky person may be, but sources say almost anyone in the world could claim the inheritance. Whoever ends up becoming the new King of Cannes will no doubt travel in the fantastic style Jacques was accustom to.


Sounds like an amazing opportunity, right? Bonne chance!