Fondation Gan pour le Cinéma's 40th Anniversary
In the presence (to date) of Catherine Corsini, Sandrine Veysset, Jonathan Millet, Lawrence Valin, directors
For the past 40 years, the Fondation Gan pour le Cinéma has supported four feature-length fiction projects a year through its creative support scheme. These are either first or second films. This financial and moral support has become an essential springboard for generations of filmmakers.
To mark this anniversary, Premiers Plans is providing an opportunity to revisit a series of noteworthy films that have benefited from this support and which have often featured at the festival, and most of their directors will be present. This is a unique opportunity to celebrate the Fondation Gan’s lasting impact on the French film scene and to look back at the moving and promising early careers of now-established filmmakers.
This is a chance to rediscover Bruno Dumont’s striking debut film, La Vie de Jésus (The Life of Jesus), in a brand-new 4K restoration. The screenplay for the film, then entitled Freddy, was read by the actor Jacques Bonnaffé at the Festival in 1996. Catherine Corsini will present Les Amoureux (Lovers), also in a restored version. This is a chance to revisit this drama, co-written with Pascale Breton and Arlette Langmann, which was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight. A little-known yet much-loved film, Y aura-t-il de la neige à Noël ? (Will It Snow for Christmas?) is the debut feature by Sandrine Veysset, who will be present with us and who was also able to hear Marie Trintignant read her screenplay in Angers in 1994. An unmissable rare gem, focusing on a blended family’s life in the country, carried by the formidable Dominique Reymond. Persepolis, a masterpiece co-directed 20 years ago by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, will also be screened. Finally, closer to home, two highly distinctive debut films will be screened in the presence of their directors: Little Jaffna, an electrifying thriller written by and starring Lawrence Valin, and Les Fantômes (Ghost Trail) by Jonathan Millet, a tracking film haunted by the war, both of which were developed at the Ateliers d’Angers. The time has come to shed a new light on these films, to discuss their beginnings and look to what lies ahead.
