uh— trenitalia is the name of the Italian national rail company. Eurostar generally refers to the chunnel train between London and Paris, but trenitalia calls some of their premier trains eurostarItalia or just eurostar. I would try to purchase the train ticket from Turin on trenitalia.com

Cannes and Nice are about 20 minutes apart by train, Cagnes sur Mer, St. Laurent du Var, Antibes are even closer.

First, a clarification – Trenitalia is the Italian national rail service, Eurostar Italia refers to the fleet of new premier trains and their high-speed rail network ("Eurostar" is the UK/FR joint ventured chunnel train). Thus, you will travel Trenitalia, but your route will determine the paticular train. There are daily expresses Turin/Nice, around four hours, as well as a night train. Nice/Cannes is about a half hour. Incidentally, this years festival is May 11-22.

So Im in the trenitalia.com website…why cant I buy a ticket from Turin to Nice? It will post the times but I can’t buy it and I cant even see how much it costs.

Although several recent postings had reported difficulties with the newly redesigned Trenitalia website, it appears, regrettably, that Turin/Nice ticketing is simply unavailable online, needs be purchased at an Italian rail station or from an authorized Trenitalia travel agent.

Since the trip is international (between Italy and France) you may not be able to buy online. Try sncf.com (the French national rail site) to see if you can buy from them. Also, try trenitalia.com at different times of the day (like during the early AM when it’s still "business hours" in Italy). The "buy" option was not available 24/7 in the past.

Based on the maps at Ricksteves.com and what railkey would charge to buy from the US, I’d assume that this ticket would cost about 25 euros. Most of the trains on this route do not require reservations so you can avoid the extra reservation charge.

See if you can stay in the Juan-les-Pins or Antibes areas. Cheaper, a bit quieter (though the entire area will be bustling for the filmfest), and closer to Cannes than Nice. Though it’s only a short train ride between all areas.

Ive always wanted to go to that festival. Will be going with my best friend either next year, or the year after that. So i cant really help you yet.

If you want an estimate of the rail price (and if the problem is that the trenitalia website won’t give prices for international trips), then try using Ventemiglia as your destination. From there, the price to Cannes would be less than 10 euros.
I’ve stayed in that area several times during the film festival. The first time, I’d completely forgotten about the festival until I read about it while on the train approaching Cannes late in the afternoon. I switched trains at Cannes, and went on to Juan-le-Pins (about 10 more minutes), where I had no problem finding a room in a small family-run hotel.
Since then, I’ve been back twice, and will be going again this May, simply because my vacation times have happened to co-incide with the timing of the festival.
Last year, I met a few people in J-l-P who were there for the festival—- but in general, the festival seems to occur someplace light-years away!
By the way, I think that for those of us who aren’t in the film industry, or who aren’t beautiful starlet types, there may not be much to see or do at the festival. The stars stay at ultra-expensive hotels in Cannes or elsewhere (Cap d’Antibes, for example), and eat at expensive restaurants, so you’ll be lucky to just get a glimpse of someone famous.
Last year, I did have lunch at an exclusive restaurant in Juan, and was treated to the spectacle of a Hollywood mogul who was dining there with his "secretary" atthe next table, and was constantly on his cell phone (loudly). I couldn’t help noticing that he was the classic "ugly American" boor who goes to a great restaurant and orders chardonnay with his lamb…

Basie,
So do you think it’s worth it? I mean of course you do! Youve been there a few times before. But I’ve been to Sundance and I was able to get tickets to a few films, do you think it might work the same way as well? The problem with Juan-le-pins is that it’s more expensive to stay there than Nice. In Nice I can get a bed in a hostel for $20. Juan-le-pins was a lot more expensive! What about a day in Nice and a day in Cannes? What do you do there anyways (at the festival)?

I don’t go to the festival at all! Last year, I met some students who were there as part of a film class, and they were able to get access to some events because of their connection to the class. But I think that, for most of us, attendance would mean just hanging around and trying to get a glimpse of some celebrities as they passed by.
You’re right that, as far as I know, there’s no hostel in Juan-les-Pins (but I think that there is one in Antibes, which is the adjoining town). I found an inexpensive hotel ( by that, I mean 65 euros for a single room) that’s 50m from the beach, and about 150m from the train station, and is run by a very nice friendly family.
There are nice clean beaches, and lots of bars and restaurants for the evenings. Antibes is walking distance, and has a nice Provencal market and a Picasso Museum. There’s a train that serves towns along the coast, and it’s easy to see other places, too, and there are buses that go up into the hills to places like Vence and St-Paul-de-Vence, so I can keep busy for a few days!
So, for me, it’s been fun to go back each year. The lady who runs the hotel where I stay is very nice and friendly, and always seems glad when I turn up there. In the back of the hotel, there’s a terrace shaded with bamboo, and lots of flowers and birds, and she serves breakfast there, and always like to chat with me. I can speak some French, although I’m not fluent, and we have little talks about things like how her business struggled during the last two years, or she’ll give me advice about things to see or do in the area. Anyway—- I’ve grown to really like staying there for a few days!
If you need more info, snd me an email, and I’ll try to give you more details.

I was in Cannes last year at the time of the film festival, for which I had high hopes. The only cool thing was to see all the huge yachts that were docked. It seemed as though EVERYTHING needed a special pass. Most of the beach was even closed so hopefully you have something that will allow you to see the action.

What do you even do there then if you need a special pass for everything? So, I’m gathering that it’s NOT like Sundance where it easy to get tickets to see the flicks….

As far as I could tell, unless you had some connections, there was almost nothing you could do at the festival itself, and I don’t think it’s at all like going to Sundance.
By the way, if you’d like to see what the scenery in the area is like, try to find the film "To Catch a Thief", with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.
I hope you’ll still go to the area even if you can’t really count on getting into events at the festival!