The competition selection of the film “The Return”, which was strongly questioned due to its shooting conditions, sparks a controversy whose secret lies in the festival.
par Jean Luc Wachthausen
© CHRISTOPHE SIMON / –
Published on
Audio playback for subscribers only
PAce of the Cannes Film Festival without controversy or argument, or even – new fact – denunciation by a crow or more. The edition of 76e The festival, which opens on May 16, is no exception to the rule with the selection of Catherine Corsini’s new film in competition. The return. The film, which was awarded for its shooting conditions, was the subject of a complaint to the Paris public prosecutor’s office last November for sexualised scenes with young people. However, no complaint was filed.
The film, announced for the first time in selection at the Cannes Film Festival on April 13, had been withdrawn by decision of the board of directors. The latter was informed that the National Cinema Center (CNC) was withdrawing a grant of 680,000 euros from the production. In question: a sex scene involving an underage actress under the age of 16 that had not been reported to the committee responsible for reviewing filming requests.
ALSO READApple at the Cannes Film Festival: the latest Scorsese, symbol of the big bang of cinema
But on April 24, the team of general delegate Thierry Frémaux, in agreement with the festival’s president, Iris Knobloch, finally decided to reinstate him after ten days of investigation and without evidence of reprehensible facts. That didn’t stop producer Marc Missonnier from signing angry tweets denouncing the blindness of the world’s largest film festival and calling for a boycott using the hashtag #BoycottCannes.
The film tells the story of Kheididja, a 40-year-old woman who returns to Corsica for a summer to look after the children of a wealthy couple (Virginie Ledoyen and Denis Podalydès). On the spot, she finds herself with two teenagers who are going to do the 400 strokes and know their first love experiences. In the casting we find Aïssatou Diallo Sagna, noted in the previous film by Corsini, the rift
The producer of Return message, Elisabeth Perez rushed to defend the film in the American magazine diversity, citing “unwelcome allegations” while citing “an administrative error”. At parisian, She also clarified that the actors involved, aged 15 and 17, “acted in a totally agreed and totally simulated manner.”
On the part of the Society of Film Directors (SRF), its co-president, screenwriter and director Thomas Bidegain, advocates this Point, the appeasement after some heated debates within the association, of which Catherine Corsini has just slammed the door. He is pleased that “in this particular case, the directors’ rights are respected and the decision to select or not to select is made The return, belongs to their General Delegate Thierry Frémaux and nobody else. In other words, the SRF is not a court that judges the selection of this or that film at the Cannes Film Festival.
ALSO READBut what’s going on at the Society of Film Directors? He took the opportunity to scratch Marc Missonnier. “Like in football or in politics, everyone has an opinion. Luckily, it’s not Marc Missonnier or anyone else who chooses the films at Cannes, it’s Thierry Frémaux, and that’s a good thing! What I personally find wonderful about France is that, unlike series, cinema is always at the center of debate and controversy. See you in three weeks to see how Catherine Corsini’s twelfth film and third selected at Cannes is being received by festival-goers.
