Southern France suffered a major power cut on Saturday morning, hours before celebrities from the global film industry were due to gather for the key night at the Cannes festival.
Police said that two "malicious acts", including what was probably an arson attack, on an electricity substation had caused the power outage in the Alpes-Maritimes region, knocking out traffic lights and causing chaos on the roads around Cannes.
The electricity supply to the film festival headquarters was also cut. Organisers promised to overcome the major power cut in order to hand out its prizes at a VIP-studded ceremony later. They said they had been able to switch to an alternative supply, "which enables us to maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony".
The festival draws to a close on Saturday. French actress Juliette Binoche and her jury will announce the winner from the 22 films competing for the Palme d'Or for best film.
The best-reviewed contenders include Iranian director Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident and Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa's Two Prosecutors, according to analysis from Screen magazine.
But Variety predicted a triumph for Norwegian director Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value, a moving tale about a quietly fractured family starring Elle Fanning, which received a 19-minute standing ovation after its premiere on Thursday.
Rumours buzzed around the Riviera resort on Saturday morning about the likely winners, but the traffic did not, with snarl ups all over Cannes.
Amid the red carpets and parties, this year's Cannes Festival has been politically charged, with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as US President Donald Trump the major talking-points.
The Gaza war has been on the minds of many of the festival's guests, with more than 900 actors and filmmakers signing an open letter denouncing "genocide" in the Palestinian territory.
Binoche, Schindler's List star Ralph Fiennes, US indie director Jim Jarmusch and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are among the signatories.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, however, said that the festival felt like a "bubble of indifference".
