Porn Stars at Cannes

According to Reuters, "actresses ranging from young Eastern Europeans to hoary American veterans arrived at a hotel near Cannes [Wednesday evening] like celebrities turning up for any regular festival bash, albeit clad in fluorescent rubber and cutaway leopard skin." Among Hot Video Magazine's Hot D'Or awards, the red carpets and tearful acceptance speeches, Stacy Valentine who won the award for Best American actress, had this to say, ``I challenge any mainstream actor or actress to take off their clothes and have sex in front of people and tell me that's not acting." nn"The quality of the production is coming up -- it's not just someone coming round and saying, 'I'm the pizza man.' We're trying to put stories in,'' said Julian St. Jox. nn[Other American winners included Tera Patrick who won the award for Best New American Starlet and Michael Ninn whose Ritual won for Best American movie.] nn"It's my Golden Palm, for me,'' said Fred Coppula, brandishing his Golden Hot for ``Best European Director.'' nnOrganizers of the annual porn awards explained that they aimed to improve the image of an industry they said was worth 25-30 billion francs ($3.4-$4 billion) a year in Europe. nn``We want to reward what gets forgotten at Cannes,'' said Pierre Cavalier, a festival organizer for the past seven years.