UPDATED with festival statement: A press screening of Pedro Almodóvar’s Cannes Competition film Bitter Christmas at the Bazin Theatre on Tuesday evening was interrupted part-way through due to a medical emergency involving one of the attendees.
Deadline was alerted to the incident by our critic Stephanie Bunbury that the 6:15 p.m. press screening had been disrupted about 15 minutes into the start of the film.
Per our eyewitness, during, ironically, a hospital sequence in the movie, loud yelps were heard from an elderly moviegoer in the Bazin; the person had collapsed in their seat, eyes closed. Those sitting nearby surrounded him as the feature continued to run. Soon after, the Bazin ushers ordered the audience to leave.
The festival confirmed the incident in a statement and said the victim was conscious when being evacuated from the theater and was now being cared for in hospital. It added that the screening resumed from the beginning of the film.
“A person suffered a medical emergency on Tuesday evening during the press screening of Bitter Christmas, in the Bazin theatre” said the festival. “The screening was immediately interrupted, and the theatre evacuated to allow emergency services to assist them. The person was conscious and responsive before being transported to the hospital for further medical care. Once the intervention was completed, the screening resumed from the beginning of the film.”
The Bazin cinema is situated inside the Palais des Festivals and principally hosts press screenings for the films in the main competition.
This evening’s screening for Bitter Christmas was timed to the world premiere of the pic in the Grand Theatre Lumière, where Almodóvar received a standing ovation upon entrance.
