Cannes Film Festival requires ‘disgusting’ saliva tests for COVID

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On Monday afternoon, Olivia Wilson arrives from her home in Tennessee for the Cannes Film Festival, where she will serve as an intern at the American Pavilion. But before she could enjoy the most beautiful film festival in the world, she had to repeatedly spit into a plastic tube to make sure she didn’t get COVID-19.

In Cannes, a saliva test will be the preferred method of COVID screening by Biogroup, the laboratory chartered to combat the spread of the virus that has killed 4 million people worldwide. But while the process didn’t involve placing a swab from her nose, it wasn’t that easy.

“It was hard for me,” Wilson says. “I couldn’t produce enough saliva.” She estimated she had to spit “more than 15 times” before she collected enough of the sample.

The annual Cannes Film Festival kicks off this week in sweltering July beach weather with a massive slate of authors, Spike Lee as head of the jury, and soon-to-be-revealed face masks. For the first time since World War II, Cannes was canceled last year, due to COVID-19. While global pandemic infection rates have fallen as a result of massive vaccination efforts, the delta variant has produced hotspots around the world. For Cannes – a gathering that attracts filmmakers and journalists from around the world – it has brought new complications to one of the first film festivals trying to make a comeback during the COVID era.

French laws require those congregating indoors to either be vaccinated or show evidence of a PCR test. But due to restrictions on an app the French government uses that allows citizens to prove they’ve been vaccinated, those coming to Cannes from countries outside the EU’s COVID-19 tracking system – including the US, Canada, England and all of Asia – will not have a barcode. Transferable to prove that they have been vaccinated.

Thus, they will basically be treated as if they had not been vaccinated. The mandate has already led to confusion – and complaints – from festival-goers on the ground.

Under the latest rules, non-European attendees at Cannes will need a COVID test every 48 hours to enter the Palais, the building where pessimistic producers have set up tables to market their films and movie stars walk through a back door to hold them. press conferences (France does not require proof of vaccination inside cinemas, so only those attending shows will be exempt from these testing protocols.)

A plastic tube that collects the sputum for the PCR test. Ramen Sotoudeh

COVID saliva tests have been praised for their effectiveness and efficiency, with some finding them to be less invasive than nasal swabs. It requires fewer technicians because those who are tested can collect their own samples.

Hours before the festival launched on Tuesday, the scene at a makeshift COVID testing center just steps away from where the premiere of films was the opposite of magic. Festival attendees were ushered into a large room with all the glimmer of a polling station. They were handed a plastic container, along with a funnel where they were directed to shoot their spit, while standing behind a section away from the community. Some missed, hit the ground or their clothes.

“It should be liquid,” the lab employee said. “Foam does not count.”

There were audible sighs of frustration among those waiting in line when they realized how much saliva the tester needed from them. Festival-goers who didn’t collect enough to spit more were sent back. There were other reasons for disqualification. A Variety reporter witnessed a vial of spit being thrown because someone had coughed up a piece of food, contaminating the sample.

To be fair, the Biogroup’s instructions advised: “It is recommended that you do not eat, drink, smoke or brush your teeth in 30 minutes.” [before] take samples “.

COVID-19 saliva testing guidelines. Ramen Sotoudeh

“I found the test really disgusting,” said one of the people involved in the process.

Others praised the festival for creating a test system with short lines for the time being – and simple guidelines for registering appointments online. The test is free for Cannes badge holders, and results are ready within six hours. It was fast and easy,” said Lucy Holman, the other intern who took the test on Monday. As a good measure, she added, “I’m spitting more.”

Those who could not produce enough saliva were taken to the second line, where they were given a traditional nasal swab by a nurse.

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