Less rhinestones and sequins but a lot of joy on Friday evening in Deauville for the opening of the 46th American Film Festival.
A snub to the coronavirus pandemic which has closed three months during theaters and prevents American directors and actors from crossing the ocean to defend their works on the boards of the Normandy seaside resort.
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“
This 2020 edition is unique.
Very few American talents will be with us but their stories will make us travel and discover the United States differently,
”recalled the journalist and host of France 24, Genie Godula, in the preamble to the evening.
To respect barrier gestures, the capacity of the city's screening rooms has been reduced by 30%.
The traditional gala dinner reduced the sails from more than 500 seats to a hundred.
Inside the Deauville convention center, the CID, the numerous hydroalcoholic gel terminals were just waiting to be used.
On the red carpet, the Hollywood stars have been replaced by the pundits of the French seventh art.
Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux represented the Cannes Film Festival, of which Deauville is hosting nine films.
The Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot, still wearing a Mask of Art, had also made the trip.
The shortage of stars across the Atlantic did not prevent a hundred curious from approaching the barriers surrounding the red carpet to see the president of the jury, the singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, in an airy pink dress ending like a boa , and his jurors Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, Vincent Lacoste or Zita Hanrot.
But also the team of the drama
A Good Man
with the actress Noémie Merlant (
Portrait of the young girl on fire
), Jonas Ben Ahmad and the director Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar.
Very disciplined, each guest just briefly separated from his mask to pose in front of the photographers before putting it back on to enter the CID.
Everyone kept their right meter of distance.
The interpreter of
Joe Le Taxi
was almost stolen the spotlight by Édouard Philippe.
The former prime minister and mayor of neighboring Havre delighted journalists by declaring his love for the westerns he watched with his grandfather and
Francis Ford Coppola's
Godfather
.
"
A passion that has nothing to do with my profession
", he assured mischievous.
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The Godfather III is
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Far from the eyes but not far from the heart.
This 46th American Film Festival opened with the poignant tribute of Michael Douglas to his father Kirk Douglas, who died in February.
Covid requires, the star of
Basic Instinct
recorded his interview on video.
At home but in a suit and tie.
“
The tribute you pay to my father is the commemoration that I could not organize for him because of the pandemic and the confinement.
Dad left at the right time, just before the arrival of this virus,
”greeted moved Michael Douglas who recalled the very poor childhood of the hero of
Spartacus
, born of illiterate Belarusian emigrants.
The emotion continued with a piano solo performed by Steve Nieve who took over some melodies by composer Ennio Morricone, who also died this year.
After these movie-loving moments, it was the mayor of Deauville Philippe Augier who took the floor followed by Roselyne Bachelot, once the desks have been disinfected.
“
What a pleasure to see the cinema come to life again.
The cinema is not only films but it is the collective experience of the big screen, this union of the spectators in the dark room
”, underlined the Minister.
The embroidery on his black suit delighted Thierry Frémaux.
He saw a sketch of a Palme d'Or.
For a few moments, the CID was transformed into the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.
Cannes' musical notes sounded as a montage of her landmark openings scrolled across the screen.
Drawing on his experience, Thierry Frémaux gave his advice to the jury on how to run the marathon "
go to bed early, don't drink and eat light
".
Cabotin, he even noticed that the cancellation of Cannes 2020 has softened his usual detractors.
“
Maybe we should do the same before 2021 too,
” he joked.
Like the minister, he wanted Deauville to send "
a strong signal that says we can come back to the room
".
A desire, a desire ignited by the delicious
Minari
, the opening film of this 46th American Film Festival and a serious candidate for its grand prize.
In this autobiographical column, director Lee Isaac Chung remembers the installation of his parents, Korean immigrants, in Arkansas in the 80s. The American dream is seen through the eyes of the prankster David.
The little boy plays tricks on his grandmother, learns to tame the inhabitants and watches his father wear himself out building the farm of his dreams.
Irresistible, the young actor Alan S. Kim sparkled with joy and pride in the presentation video and fully fulfilled the promise of Bruno Barde, director of the Deauville Festival, "
to exalt with this selection a forgotten humanism at the level of men. making enlightened benevolence the substantive of our emotions.
"
