Japanese Agent Injured by Falling Palm Tree at Cannes Film Festival

Reuters

12:44 JST, May 19, 2025

CANNES, France, May 17 (Reuters) – The agent for an actor in the Japanese film “Brand New Landscape” was injured by a falling palm tree on Cannes Film Festival’s crowded Croisette Boulevard on Saturday afternoon, according to local authorities and festival organisers.

The man is still in hospital and will be examined by a specialist after damaging his vertebrate and his nose, said organisers of the Directors’ Fortnight independent sidebar.

They did not give the injured man’s name nor his client’s.

The press team for the film starring Kodai Kurosaki that premiered on Friday has since cancelled their events.

A man in his thirties was injured after a three-metre palm tree fell onto the sidewalk, according to local authorities.

Police blocked off a portion of the beach-side promenade to allow authorities to remove the tree as soon as possible.

Harrison Sheehan, a filmmaker from the U.S. state of Colorado, said that he saw people gathering around and filming something, and thought that it was a paparazzi situation.

“I just took like two steps further and there was a man on the ground with like blood all around his head,” he said.

The festival on the French Riviera attracts between 35,000 and 40,000 attendees annually, not to mention the thousands of people who flock to the boulevard in hopes of catching a glimpse of the numerous celebrities.