John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the Cannes Film Festival – 15 May 1971
Saturday 15 May 1971 | Film and Video
On 15 May 1971, John Lennon and Yoko Ono attended the Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera. They had arrived the previous day — flying from London to Nice on 14 May — and were in the south of France for the screenings of their films Fly and Apotheosis at La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, the independent Directors’ Fortnight showcase running alongside the main festival. The day included lunch at one of the most celebrated restaurants in France, photographs with Jeanne Moreau and Louis Malle, and evening premieres of both films.
La Colombe d’Or, Saint-Paul-de-Vence
During the day, Lennon and Ono relaxed on the beach before driving to Saint-Paul-de-Vence — the medieval hilltop village in the hills above Nice that has been a gathering place for artists, writers, and filmmakers since the 1920s — to dine at La Colombe d’Or.
La Colombe d’Or is one of the most storied restaurants in France. Founded in 1920 by Paul Roux, it became a favourite of the artists who gathered on the Côte d’Azur in the interwar years — Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Léger, and Calder all ate there, and many paid for their meals with paintings that still hang on the restaurant’s walls. By 1971 it was an institution, and a natural destination for Lennon and Ono during their Cannes stay.
It was at La Colombe d’Or that they were photographed with the French actress Jeanne Moreau and the director Louis Malle — two of the most significant figures in French cinema. Moreau had starred in Malle’s Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (1958) and Les Amants (1958), and had become one of the defining faces of the French New Wave. Malle was one of the most versatile and internationally respected directors of his generation. The photograph of the four of them together is one of the more remarkable documents of Lennon’s post-Beatles life.
The Premiere of Apotheosis
In the evening, the premiere of Apotheosis took place at La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. Apotheosis — also known as Balloon — is a 19-minute film in which a camera attached to a hot air balloon rises slowly from a snow-covered field in Lavenham, Suffolk, through low cloud, and eventually into clear blue sky above the clouds. Shot in January 1970, it is one of the most purely meditative works in the Lennon-Ono film catalogue: unhurried, wordless, and genuinely transcendent in its final minutes.
After the screening, Lennon and Ono hastily left with Richard Dembo, the publicist of La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. Their assistant Dan Richter drove them to a Moroccan restaurant, where they were interviewed by the film critic Amos Vogel. Vogel was one of the most respected film critics and programmers of the era — a co-founder of the New York Film Festival and a champion of experimental and avant-garde cinema — and his interest in the Lennon-Ono films was a measure of their standing in the world of serious film culture.
The Premiere of Fly
Following their dinner, Lennon and Ono returned to Cannes for the premiere of Fly. Directed by Yoko Ono with a soundtrack composed and performed by Lennon, Fly is a 25-minute film that follows a single fly as it moves across the body of a naked woman. Lennon’s soundtrack — a sustained, keening vocal improvisation — gives the film an unsettling, hypnotic quality. Both films were screened again the following day.
La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs — the Directors’ Fortnight — had been founded in 1969 in the aftermath of the events of May 1968, when the Cannes Film Festival had been shut down by directors and critics in solidarity with the student and worker uprisings across France. It was conceived as an independent, non-competitive alternative to the official festival — a space for experimental, political, and avant-garde cinema that might not find a home in the main programme.
For Lennon and Ono, it was the ideal context. Their film work — conceptual, provocative, and deliberately outside the mainstream — was precisely the kind of cinema the Directors’ Fortnight had been created to champion. The Cannes screenings gave their films an international platform and placed them within a tradition of serious experimental filmmaking rather than treating them as celebrity curiosities.
Cannes, May 1971: The Broader Context
The Cannes trip came at a significant moment in Lennon’s post-Beatles life. Power to the People had been released in March 1971. That summer, back at Tittenhurst Park in Berkshire, Lennon would record Imagine — the album that would become his most celebrated solo work. Later in 1971, he and Ono would relocate permanently to New York City.
The day at Cannes — the beach, La Colombe d’Or, Jeanne Moreau and Louis Malle, the film premieres, the interview with Amos Vogel — captures Lennon in a brief, sunlit interlude between the intensity of the Plastic Ono Band album and the making of Imagine: relaxed, culturally engaged, and operating in a world far removed from the Beatlemania that had defined his twenties.
Key Facts: 15 May 1971
- Date: Saturday 15 May 1971
- Location: Cannes and Saint-Paul-de-Vence, French Riviera
- Arrived: 14 May 1971 (flew London to Nice)
- Staying at: Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes
- Daytime: Beach; lunch at La Colombe d’Or, Saint-Paul-de-Vence
- Photographed with: Jeanne Moreau and Louis Malle
- Evening premiere 1: Apotheosis at La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
- Post-premiere: Moroccan restaurant; interview with film critic Amos Vogel; driven by Dan Richter
- Evening premiere 2: Fly at La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
- Both films rescreened: 16 May 1971
Frequently Asked Questions
Did John Lennon attend the Cannes Film Festival?
Yes — John Lennon and Yoko Ono attended the Cannes Film Festival in May 1971. They arrived on 14 May and attended screenings and premieres of their films Fly and Apotheosis at La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs on 15 May. Both films were screened again on 16 May.
What is La Colombe d’Or in Saint-Paul-de-Vence?
La Colombe d’Or is a celebrated restaurant and hotel in the medieval hilltop village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence in the hills above Nice. Founded in 1920, it became a favourite of artists including Picasso, Matisse, and Braque, many of whom paid for meals with paintings that still hang on its walls. Lennon and Ono dined there on 15 May 1971 and were photographed with Jeanne Moreau and Louis Malle.
Who were Jeanne Moreau and Louis Malle?
Jeanne Moreau was one of the defining actresses of French cinema, known for her roles in Louis Malle’s Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (1958) and Les Amants (1958) and her association with the French New Wave. Louis Malle was one of the most versatile and internationally respected French directors of his generation. Both were photographed with Lennon and Ono at La Colombe d’Or on 15 May 1971.
What films did Lennon and Ono show at Cannes in 1971?
Apotheosis (1970), a 19-minute film in which a camera rises by hot air balloon from a snowy field in Suffolk through cloud into clear sky; and Fly (1970), a 25-minute film directed by Yoko Ono with a soundtrack by Lennon. Both screened at La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs on 15 May and were rescreened on 16 May.
Who was Amos Vogel?
Amos Vogel was one of the most respected film critics and programmers of the era — a co-founder of the New York Film Festival and a champion of experimental and avant-garde cinema. He interviewed Lennon and Ono at a Moroccan restaurant in Cannes on the evening of 15 May 1971, after the premiere of Apotheosis.
→ 14 May 1971: Lennon and Ono Fly to Nice →
→ John Lennon | Paul McCartney | George Harrison | Ringo Starr
Shop Beatles Merch: Shop by Era
0 comments