“The public has faith in us!”

Posted on 14.10.2023

180 films in 448 screenings… For nine days, the Lumière film festival will be bringing its share of emotions and discoveries. Here's a look at some of the highlights of the 2023 festival with its director of programming, Maelle Arnaud.

In your opinion, what do you think is exceptional about this edition?

Perhaps the availability and commitment of the artist who will receive the Lumière Award: Wim Wenders will be introducing many screenings, but especially the fact that his entourage will be there to offer the people of Lyon a unique event. I'm thinking of actresses Aurore Clément and Nastassja Kinski, actors Rüdiger Vogler and Hanns Zischler, writer Peter Handke and others. We are celebrating a filmmaker, but the heart of the festival will beat to the rhythm of his entire universe, the Wenders universe.

This year you're celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of the festival with a special section. What is the idea behind it?

We realised that, given the richness of the programme, there were films that we could come back to, either because we particularly liked them, or because they had created indelible memories. The Lumière film festival has its own identity, made up of the Award, the Permanent History of Women Filmmakers, the tribute to French cinema, the presence of archives. And some formidable moments too... We have chosen films that illustrate this history and films that, at the top of a long list, merit the big screen because of their visual scope, like Heaven's Gate or Novecento.

How did you rediscover Spanish filmmaker Ana Mariscal?

Throughout the year, I'm always on the lookout, delving into the history of cinema. Last year, Spain was the guest country invited by the International Classic Film Market. I mentioned Mariscal's name and the Filmoteca española reminded me that one of her films, Il Camino, had been restored. I saw it and found it magnificent, and everyone played their part: the Filmoteca completed the other restorations and provided French subtitles to highlight the presence of the filmmaker in the history of Spanish cinema.... And we are their messengers. What makes us even happier is that this is a mainstream filmmaker, whose films can appeal to everyone, not just discerning film buffs. It also allows us to question once again the situation of those actresses who wanted to direct films and whose husbands had to set up a production company to access funding... History repeats itself. We are still waiting impatiently for the time when it will no longer be necessary to have this section devoted to women filmmakers as a central part of the festival. Until then, there are still names and works to be rediscovered.

 
Pather Panchali, 1955 © Government of West Bengal / DR

How would you sum up the season at the Lumière Institute, between the festivals of 2022 and 2023?

The moviegoers are there. The general opinion was that after Covid it would take two or three years for them to return to their pre-pandemic numbers. Here, they responded immediately. I'm not saying that we don’t need to fight to attract the public, but it is no more the case than it was beforehand. We've noticed that there are several types of film buffs in Lyon: not everyone goes to see everything, but if we propose varied programmes, then several different audiences will come to the institute. In particular, we are appealing to audiences for cinema that just a few years ago would have been considered contemporary, but which is now twenty or thirty years old and has a rightful place in a film library. The Lumière Institute doesn't scare the younger generation at all, which we saw for example during the Miyazaki retrospective. And when I see the number of reservations for the film festival, even after an event as exceptional as last year's, with a very popular filmmaker like Tim Burton, it's proof that people trust us.

If you had to recommend three screenings for 2023...?

I'm going to highlight moments that are truly in the DNA of the festival, screenings presented by artists who reveal their inspiration or their working methods. For example, the conversation between Wim Wenders, Rüdiger Vogler and Hanns Zischler at the end of the Kings of the Road screening on Monday, October 16th. A unique moment and, according to the Wenders Foundation, something that has never been done. In the same vein, Wes Anderson has agreed to present a screening of Pather Panchali, out of love for the cinema of Satyajit Ray, which we will finally discover restored in magnificent prints. Or Alfonso Cuarón, who will come to express his passion for the cinema of Alain Tanner. I find it great that he is coming, not even to introduce one of his own films, but to pay tribute to a peer, contributing to the circulation of cinephilia!

Interview by Aurelien Ferenczi