09/04/2020 | The FFA was held from August 28 to September 3 in the presence of many actors and directors
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It is the only film festival in France, along with that of Deauville, to have been maintained and to have taken place physically, where others have preferred to set up a digital version of their 2020 edition (Cannes, FFTV , etc.). The FFA took place from August 28 to September 3 in a very special atmosphere linked to the health context. Everything had been organized according to the Covid-19 protocols: wearing a compulsory mask, booking online cinema seats, canceling evenings and masterclasses …
Despite these constraints, many actors and directors were present. Everyone had a film to promote this fall – for some, it was the opportunity to give new impetus to a film whose release was initially scheduled between March and May 2020. The crisis experienced by the cinema industry was in everyone the heads, even if no one mentioned it directly. Concern has filtered through the many expressions of gratitude from actors and directors to the attention of festival organizers. Many of them stressed the importance of such a festival being maintained. “It is all the more important that it truly launches the upcoming cinema season”, notably recalled the actress Julie Gayet during the preview of Nicolas Vannier’s latest film, Poly.
The spectators were also there, even if they were less numerous than usual. According to the two festival delegates, the halls were filled between 40% to 60% of their authorized capacity, with a small increase in the number of spectators on the last two days of the festival. The previews in the evening (the film at 8 or 9 p.m.) were still sold out. While most of the festive events usually surrounding the festival have been canceled, the week has been marked by some notable events. Overview in pictures.
The Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot had announced the day before aid of 432 million euros for performing arts (private and public), out of the 2 billion allocated to culture as part of the recovery plan. On the evening of August 28, on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the FFA, Jean Castex came to announce that support for cinematographic creation would be reinforced to the tune of 165 million euros. “The CNC (national center of cinema and animated image) will see its resources reinforced by the State, by 165 million euros to which will be added funding for investments for the future” he explained. . “Everything will be done so that the French […] return to the dark rooms! […] The State will continue to accompany and support the cinema ”.
Singer Gaël Faye came to Angoulême on Saturday August 29 for the promotion of the film Little country, directed by Eric Barbier. From his eponymous novel, Little country recounts the story of his childhood in Burundi and the genocide between Hutus and Tutsis, which tore the region apart between 1992 and 1994. Gaël Faye attended the filming for a month. “He always left me a freedom in the choice of actors and sets,” said Eric Barbier, who knew neither the work nor the life of Gaël Faye before being approached by the production. “I could only envision the construction of the film after having discussed with him, seen his family albums, having immersed himself in his history.” The team toured in Rwanda, because of political instability in Burundi, with mainly Rwandan actors (note, the presence of Jean-Paul Rouve in the role of the father). It is also a Rwandan, Isabelle Kabano (the mother in the film) who won the Valois for best female role.
On Sunday August 30, the spectators of the CGR give a real standing ovation of several minutes to the actors of Miss, by Ruben Alvès. It is the story of a young androgynous man who wants to realize his childhood dream: to become Miss France. The main character is brilliantly carried by a new actor, Alexandre Wetter, and a handful of equally brilliant supporting roles: Thibault de Montalembert is as earthy as it is unexpected in his role of drag queen mother hen; Amanda Lear imperial and funny as mistress of the night; Isabelle Nanty adorably unbearable as a landlady … In short, we laugh as much as we cry in front of this colorful comedy. Miss is one of the films to be released at the start of the year, during confinement. Its release has been rescheduled for September 23.
On Monday, the journalist Antoine de Maximy drags his red shirt through the streets of Angoulême. With Max Boubil and their producer, they came to present Antoine’s first feature film, I would go die in the Carpathians. Taking up the concept of his famous show I would go to sleep at home, the adventurous journalist left to imagine what could happen if ever the worst were to happen to him on a set. Alice Pol and Max Boubil play the investigators of this delightful fiction.
On the evening of the 31st, Julie Gayet and Benjamin Biolay offer a moment of grace to the spectators of L’Eperon, with a “master class” on the theme “music and image”, he at the piano, she at the narration. This show traces the link between cinema and music, through its most striking figures, from Tchaikowsky and Mahler to Michel Legrand and Georges Delerue. This presentation was a preview of a lively conference to be held for the launch of a brand new festival in Rochefort in June 2021. Julie Gayet is the instigator of this new event, logically named Les Demoiselles. Its objective is to bring together music and image professionals, whatever they may be, to create emulations between its two worlds which rarely rub shoulders.
For the last day of the festival, the president of the Olympique Lyonnais football club and some players from the women’s team came to present the documentary The Players, directed by Stéphanie Gillard and produced by Julie Gayet.
This is the movie Ibrahim, by Samir Guesmi, who won most of the awards for this edition, on the evening of September 3 during the Valois award ceremony, at the Angoulême theater. This feature film dealing with the father-son relationship won the prize for screenplay, music, direction and the ultimate award, the Valois de Diamant (the equivalent of the Palme d’Or in Cannes) . Emmanuel Courcol and his film A triumph were awarded the Audience Award and the Best Actor Award (ex-aequo Sofian Khammes and Pierre Lottin). Little country leaves with the award for best actress for Isabelle Kamano.
By Anne-Lise Durif
Photo credit: Anne-Lise Durif
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