Cannes, May 14: At the Cannes Film Festival, there are tales of cat burglars, violent street fights, car robberies and even a pepper-sprayed mogul. But instead of events experienced on the big screen, they are real-life assaults on festival goers, who often find themselves pressed to keep it all very hush-hush.

The 11-day international cinema showcase opening Wednesday is known for its star-jammed red carpets and black-tie premieres. Private jets offload the Hollywood elite, luxury yachts fill the bay, and stars and movie financiers party until dawn, drawing bandits like moths to a flame.

“It’s a convention of thieves,” says Tom Luddy, a co-founder of the Telluride Film Festival. He is speaking from personal experience, having had his Cannes hotel room and its safe cleaned out several years ago.

“Every villain who’s worth his salt comes,” adds Trevor Wright, a sales representative at the Swiss-based Omega Entertainment who was robbed at last year’s festival. “The police told me that criminals just come in droves . . . that there’s a massive spike in crime” during the festival.

Because they often travel with personal body guards, celebrities visiting Cannes are much harder targets. Those in attendance not fortunate enough to have their own security teams are more likely to be victimised.

Although one local law enforcement commander says crime during the festival is actually on the decline, half a dozen recent victims contend otherwise. Their stories are largely unique to Cannes, which during the rest of the year is a relatively tranquil town. But you don’t hear much about the crime blotter at the Sundance, Toronto or Telluride festivals. Some who have been robbed at Cannes say they are encouraged by their hotels not to publicise their losses.

While some of the Cannes incidents were relatively minor — a stolen purse, a lifted wallet — several other festival goers endured terrifying confrontations with intruders breaking into their hotel rooms.

At last year’s festival, Graham King, the Oscar-winning producer of The Departed, returned to his villa on the grounds of the ultra-luxurious Hotel du Cap, and discovered burglars in the midst of a break-in. The thieves fled, but not before blasting King with pepper spray and grabbing the purse of one of his colleagues as they ran out.