In Cannes, some stories are not only told on red carpets or cinema screens. Some are carried by the wind, anchored in the sea, and revealed on the deck of a historic sailing boat. On June 2, 2026, aboard the legendary O’Remington, moored at Quai Saint-Pierre in the Port of Cannes, Claude-Nicole Martinot, President of “Cannes en Héritage”, presented two major cultural and human events that will shape the summer season: La Croisière des Guerrières and Le Masque de Fer.
The setting could not have been more symbolic. Facing the Mediterranean, in the presence of Erick Leclerc, President and founder of ICYA and captain of the O’Remington, the press conference brought together heritage, solidarity and imagination. “Cannes en Héritage”, an association dedicated to the cultural knowledge of yesterday and tomorrow, continues to build bridges between history, music, literature, science and artistic expression. This summer, its programme carries two powerful messages: the courage to heal and the freedom to question.
The first event, La Croisière des Guerrières, is a deeply human initiative founded in 2009 by Claude-Nicole Martinot, with the support of Dr Xavier Pommereau, a psychiatrist specialised in adolescent suffering. More than a simple cruise, it is a journey of reconstruction for young girls who have faced eating disorders. These young participants, accompanied by doctors and caregivers, are invited to experience the sea not as an escape, but as a metaphor for life itself.
Sailing requires courage, adaptation and perseverance. It teaches one to face the wind, to hold a direction, to trust others and to rediscover one’s own strength. After the interruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2026 edition marks a new departure. It is a return to the sea, but also a return to hope. The project brings together skippers, healthcare professionals, volunteers and partners who offer their time, their boats and their energy to support these young “warriors”.
The presence of strong female figures gives the project an even deeper resonance. Véronique Jannot, actress, singer and founding president of the association Graines d’avenir, is associated with the 2026 edition as its godmother. Navigator Alexia Barrier brings the voice of the sea and ocean awareness, while Sarah Abitbol, figure skating champion and author for ONU Femmes France, embodies another form of resilience and public engagement.
At the heart of La Croisière des Guerrières lies a simple but essential idea: these young women are not defined by illness. They are honoured for their courage, surrounded by care, and invited to see the horizon again. In a city often associated with glamour, this project reminds us that elegance can also be found in generosity, solidarity and the quiet strength of those who continue moving forward.
The second major event presented during the press conference turns toward one of the most fascinating legends of Cannes: the Man in the Iron Mask. For eleven years, the mysterious prisoner was held at Fort Royal on Île Sainte-Marguerite, just off the coast of Cannes. His identity has inspired historians, writers and the public for centuries, becoming one of the most enduring enigmas in French history.
With the second edition of Le Masque de Fer, “Cannes en Héritage” brings this legend back into the living memory of the city. The highlight of the event will be Le Masque Roi, a theatrical creation imagined from an idea by Claude-Nicole Martinot, written by Bastien Miquel and directed by Martine Amsili. The play will be performed in the exceptional historical setting of Fort Royal, where the myth itself seems to remain embedded in the stones.
Le Masque Roi does not simply retell the story of the famous prisoner. It offers a bold and contemporary interpretation. What if the Man in the Iron Mask was not a single hidden identity, but a political invention? What if the mask itself had been created as a tool of power, a carefully maintained mystery designed to manipulate rumour, control perception and turn doubt into a weapon?
In the play, Jean Salveur, a ruined actor, becomes the living face of this state fiction. Behind the mask, he discovers that he is part of a vast political staging. Marguerite, known as Margot, the woman who cleans his cell, becomes the only person close enough to discover the truth. Their relationship unfolds between confinement, tenderness, humour and danger. Yet when truth threatens to emerge, the world does not necessarily want to hear it. The myth is too useful, too beautiful, too powerful.
This is where the work becomes strikingly modern. Although set in the seventeenth century, Le Masque Roi speaks directly to our own time. It questions the mechanisms of conspiracy, the fascination with secrecy and the way power can use silence as effectively as speech. By neither confirming nor denying a rumour, authority allows imagination to do the work. In an age of information overload, this idea feels more relevant than ever.
The play also reminds us that theatre itself is a space of revelation. Jean is an actor playing a prisoner, while the audience becomes witness to the fiction. Politics, myth and performance merge into one another. Reality begins to resemble theatre, and theatre begins to expose reality. Yet beyond manipulation, Le Masque Roi carries a message of resistance: to love, to act, to think freely, and to refuse the comfort of ready-made myths.
Presented together aboard the O’Remington, La Croisière des Guerrières and Le Masque de Fer reveal the full spirit of “Cannes en Héritage”. One project looks toward healing, the other toward history. One helps young women regain confidence; the other invites the public to question the stories that shape collective memory. Both, in their own way, speak of freedom.
From the deck of the O’Remington, between the old port and the open sea, Claude-Nicole Martinot offered more than a summer programme. She presented a vision of Cannes where heritage is not frozen in the past, but alive, generous and deeply human. A Cannes where the sea can heal, where legends can be reimagined, and where culture still has the power to bring people together around courage, beauty and truth.
Practical Information
Reservations: my.weezevent.com (lemasquedefer.fr)
Information: cannesenheritage24@orange.fr
Tel: +33 (0)6 71 42 74 60
