THE plane had barely stabilised from its climb of the cloud when I converted my corner in the British Airways’ Club World into a quick study. The thoughts which had followed me nagged crazier, as I left Heathrow for Lagos, being the second leg of a return journey from Nice, the closest airport to Cannes, venue of the 67th Cannes International Film Festival in France.
Of course, the BA’s Business Class cabin and its luxury assisted my scripting flow, especially since I was running against deadline. I had seen more than enough films in Cannes that I didn’t bother about in-flight entertainment. The Club World exotic lounges, for my class of ticket, also provided more than enough at both airports that I jettisoned my three-course-meal on board.
More than anything else, I reminisced events of the past few days, and I needed to take them one after another. First was Mali which came to share its version of ‘Boko Haram’ insurgency with the world at the festival. If you have seen a film called ‘Winter of Discontent’, an Ibrahim El-Batout’s portrait of Egypt and the Tahrir Square protests, then, this particular one, ‘Timbuktu’ by Abderrahmane Sissako will also remind you of how Nigeria has become a serial prisoner of history whose memory is wiped each time he tastes freedom.
Egypt and Mali, in this contest, are examples of countries whose filmmakers understand their roles as custodians of history.
I must have developed a heavy heart struggling against deadline, such that at the last dot, I heaved a sigh of relief even before going over the piece again. I must also have been beclouded, thinking about absence of sufficient activism on the part of Nigerian filmmakers, and this must have disturbed my thoughts about Cannes and the 67-year-old film event.
The real journey to Cannes begins upon descent at the Nice Airport, about a 30- minute drive to the city centre.
There are so many things to behold of this city that has carved a niche for itself as host of the annual Festival de Cannes, otherwise called the World Cup of film festivals. Driving in the city’s narrow and winding roads is surprisingly free of traffic jam. The hills, valleys and rocks would give you a picture of what Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, could look like if it were so developed. You are also stunned by the tree culture that has greenish, lanky trees and giant flowers adorn roads and homes. The leaves get dry and fell at the sweep of the wind without visible evidence of state labourers, yet the city is clean.
Perhaps because Cannes has come to be associated with strangers, it is easy to find six out of 10 inhabitants respond to you in English, should you be asking for directions. The city, a beautiful and charming region in Southern France that has an international reputation of glamour and culture, never sleeps.
Cannes beaches are a big attraction. The vast yachts on the sea add to the scenic beauty of a cute city which has visitors all-year-round, enjoying their leisure with seaside food and drinks serviced on hotel sand or free public beaches.
Because of the holiday culture in Cannes, 70 per cent of their hotels are modelled to accommodate families, with space for additional beds, beddable sofas, extra mattresses and duvets, cookers and cooking utensils. It helps an average worker on holidays because the city is quite expensive, and so it is only reasonable that with such hotels costing about 120 Euro per night (equivalent of N25) for just one occupant, an across the road grocery shop is advisable than eating some sugar-spiced source Chinese rice which appears to be the closest food that any African can identify with. It is unfortunate that unlike in Paris, there is no single African kitchen in the city of Cannes.
However, ever since its creation, the Festival de Cannes has remained faithful to its founding purpose: to draw attention to and raise the profile of films with the aim of contributing towards the development of cinema, boosting the film industry worldwide and celebrating cinema at an international level. Such was the fate of ‘Timbuktu’, a celebrated African film at the festival this year.
The luxury of that journey was a perfect blend with the BA experience. And there is just so much about the innovation of the airline.
Only recently, there was a test-run of what the airline called the “happiness blanket”. The hi-tech blanket changes colour, using brainwaves to ensure it offers customers the best flight’s sleep in the sky.
Reports say the blanket, which is woven with fibre optics, uses neuro-sensors to measure a person’s brainwaves and changes colour, from red to blue, to show when they’re at their most relaxed and meditative mood.
The airline hopes monitoring a person’s sleep and relaxation patterns during a flight will inform decisions made to improve aspects of the in-flight service from changing the timing of meals, what food is served and even the types of films shown to make flying and sleeping on British Airways flights even more relaxing.
I gathered that a group of volunteers on board the BA189 Dreamliner service from Heathrow to New York were among the first to try out the hi-tech “happiness blankets” for themselves and report on their experiences.
According to Frank van der Post, British Airways’ Managing Director, Brands and Customer Experience, “this is the first time this technology has been used by any airline to help shape how service is delivered on board an aircraft.
It is impressive how BA features special in-flight podcasts to encourage customers to relax and de-stress during their flight. Recently, it also announced the introduction of Slow TV programming on board a number of its long-haul flights. The “wallpaper” style footage, which features a seven-hour train journey through Norway, introduces a hypnotic quality for some viewers.
The airline features more than 130 movies, 650 TV shows from around the world and some 550 audio albums and 225 radio shows in its in-flight entertainment systems.
After food and drink has been served, they enter the next stage of “me time” used indulgently to watch films, catch up on box-sets, or possibly doing work. The final stage of “adjustment” sees the customer preparing for the new destination. This is the peak time for looking at the moving map, as well as getting changed and refreshing for the onward journey.
A moment to remember was onboard its 747 a few weeks ago, when flying from London to Accra, was when I watched the live screening of the Ghana vs Portugal match, whilst they were 30,000 feet up. This innovation is made possible through the airline’s WiFi enabled jumbo that has been specially fitted and allows live streaming of sports.
