18 films will be previewed from April 8 to 12 in the Vosges, where several directors are expected, including Artus, Bruno Podalydès… and Antoine Raimbault, who will be accompanied by José Bové!
In spring, there are two not-to-be-missed events in Gérardmer: the Daffodil Festival and the Rencontres du Cinéma, the 26th of which takes place from April 8 to 12. Film buffs have become accustomed to this now traditional event, organized by the Association des cinémas indépendants de l’Est and the Office de Tourisme de Gérardmer. The program includes five days of screenings, as the 2024 edition runs until Friday morning, with 18 films, all previewed for an audience of professionals and, for the most part, the general public.
As always, the program concocted by Denis Blum is a skilful blend of French and foreign films in all genres, comedies, dramas, animation, science fiction… Coming soon to your screens: the Rencontres are an opportunity for distributors to present their upcoming films to exhibitors, who can then program them in their theaters the following spring or summer.
Eight teams will be coming to Gérardmer to present feature films, and among the celebrities expected to attend is José Bové! The farmer-activist is not acting, but he will be joining director Antoine Raimbault for “A Matter of Principle”, in which the former MEP is played by Bouli Lanners; partly shot at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, this political thriller tells the story of how tobacco industry lobbyists infiltrated the European institution.
A “Little mop” and “A little something extra”
In the comedy department, Artus (who has already come to Gérardmer for “J’adore ce que vous faites”) will present “Un p’tit truc en plus”, which he directed, in which a duo of bank robbers (Artus and Clovis Cornillac) hide out among a vacation camp for handicapped youngsters. Filmmaker Bruno Podalydès will be showing “La petite vadrouille” (The Little Mop), a rip-off film in which he directed his brother Denis, Daniel Auteuil and Sandrine Kiberlain. And Nessim Chikhaoui, co-writer of “Les Tuche”, will present “Petites mains”, the story of a chambermaids’ strike in a grand hotel (with Corinne Masiero, the “Capitaine Marleau”).
Former head of fiction at TF1, Takis Candilis will be in the Vosges for his film “L’enfant qui mesurait le monde” (“The child who measured the world”); Jérémy Caplin (who directed a superb animated film, “J’ai perdu mon corps” (“I’ve lost my body”) will present “Pendant ce temps sur terre” (“During this time on earth”); Leila Kilani will accompany her film “Indivision”, about a family tearing apart a large estate in Morocco; and Olivier Casas will be present for “Frères”, the reunion of two brothers (Mathieu Kassovitz and Yvan Attal) who were abandoned as children in the forest by their mother.
Patrick TARDIT
26th Rencontres de Gérardmer, April 8-12, program and tickets: www.rencontres-du-cinema.com
