everybody became very intimate with stories during the pandemic, were it books, movies, tv series, we needed stories to stay alive, and i felt it very much in a way i have not felt it before. the high point for me at any rate in 2021 was going to a real, in person cannes film festival in july. it was a vintage year. joining me on the film festival bandwagon was my colleague emma jones, who has been looking back at some 2021 festival highlights. cannes was the first major film event to bounce back in 2021 with a physical festival. those famous red steps were busy with celebrities and the cast of films including wes anderson's long delayed the french dispatch. they needed a bus to discharge them all onto the carpet.