Paris, May 10 (Reuters): French officials sought today to appease angry show business workers who threaten to disrupt the Cannes film festival, as worried restaurant owners planned a separate demonstration amid fears they could lose business.

Organisers of the May 12-23 film showcase were due to meet tomorrow with unions representing 60,000 to 100,000 part-time actors and technicians who plan to stage protests in the Riviera resort against cuts in their welfare benefits.

Veronique Cayla, general director of the festival, said yesterday preliminary talks were positive and there was no reason to fear a cancellation of the event. She was trying to work with unions to give them a platform to express themselves peacefully.

The dispute began last summer, when demonstrators staged sit-ins and other protests that forced the scrapping of the Avignon theatre festival, among others.

Cannes mayor Bernard Brochant said he would take any measures needed to make sure the festival, scheduled to host stars including Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz, runs smoothly.

Around 1,000 police, including 600 riot police, will be deployed to guarantee security amid increased fears of attacks in the wake of the Madrid train bombings in March.

“The Cannes festival is a jewel of French culture which must be protected and it cannot be hampered or destroyed by protests of any kind,” Brochant told France Info radio.

Restaurant and bar owners, fearful that protesters could hijack the picturesque Croisette beachwalk, planned a silent march tomorrow.

Culture minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, who last week unveiled a temporary government fund to help those worst affected by the welfare reform, called for a goodwill gesture from the body that manages the unemployment benefit scheme.

“I am expecting Unedic to make a gesture between now and Wednesday...But I also ask the show business workers to take into account the government’s change in attitude and the scope of our proposals,” he told the daily Le Parisien in an interview.

The Communist-led CGT union, which represents the majority of workers in the sector, has called the government’s 20-million-euro ($23.6 million) fund inadequate.