It’s the week of tributes for Denis Villeneuve. In addition to being honored at the Gotham Awards ceremony Monday evening in New York, the Quebec director will receive the Iris tribute next Sunday at the Gala Québec Cinéma, the great celebration of local cinema. “It’s Christmas before its time!” says the filmmaker, who agreed to come back with The Journal on four notable moments of his career.
We catch him on the phone Monday morning, when he has just given an interview to CNN in the channel’s New York studios. Denis Villeneuve made a trip to the Big Apple this week to attend the 34 on Monday eveninge Gotham Awards ceremony, one of the first galas of the American film awards season. The director of Dune et Fires will receive the “Director Tribute”, a prize aimed at highlighting his recent successes in Hollywood, but also his overall achievements.
On Sunday, it will be the turn of the Quebec cinema community to give him a tip of the hat by presenting him with the Iris Tribute Prize, celebrating his 30-year career behind the camera.
“I have always been someone who looked forward, so it is a unique exercise for me to look back to analyze my trajectory,” admits the Quebec filmmaker when invited to look back on his 30 years of career.
“I am touched to see that my dream, which was to make cinema and become a filmmaker, has come true. I wanted to live a life in cinema, and that’s what I’m doing. This is something deeply moving for me. That said, I don’t take anything for granted. I know that the most difficult thing for an artist is to last.”
The 57-year-old filmmaker says he is particularly touched to be honored by his Quebec peers on Sunday evening at the Gala Québec Cinéma:
“I expatriated artistically, but I always kept my roots in Quebec. There is an energy and creativity in Quebec that nourishes me. I still feel Quebecois at heart.”
Four notable moments
A few days before receiving this award, Denis Villeneuve agreed to come back with us on four periods or notable moments of his 30 years of career behind the camera.
1) His first steps in fiction
After directing a first short documentary film, FEED ICEin 1994, Denis Villeneuve launched into fiction by shooting three feature-length fiction films in quick succession: the collective film Cosmos (1996), August 32 on earth (1998) et Maelstrom (2000):
“There is one thing in common between these three films, and that is the producer Roger Frappier,” underlines the filmmaker. I wanted to write fiction, and he was the one who opened the door for me. He was a mentor to me by introducing me to professional fiction cinema. He is a great friend and I owe him a lot. My meeting with [le directeur photo] André Turpin was also important during the filming of these films. I would say that this period was rich in learning because I learned to refine my outlook. I was looking for myself as a filmmaker.”
2) A break from cinema
After the release of Maelstromin 2000, Denis Villeneuve decided to take a long break from cinema to come back in force eight years later with the short film Next Floor, drama follow-up Polytechnic (2009) et Fires (2010).
“After Maelstrom, I felt the need to take a break to learn more about the profession, he explains. I felt that I had been a little early in my journey and that I had started making films when I had gaps as an artist. So I learned about directing and writing and from this laboratory came two feature films, Polytechnic et Fires. And while I was waiting for the money to shoot these two films, the offer to direct Next Floor arrived like a gift from heaven. It allowed me to reconnect with cinema in a fun way.”
3) His Hollywood debut
After the release ofFireswhich opened doors for him abroad, Villeneuve was invited to direct a first Hollywood film, the thriller Prisonersreleased in 2013.
«Prisoners was well received, and then the projects accelerated. The films Sicario et Arrival were financed at the same time and were shot very quickly, it was like a cinematic momentum.”
4) From Blade Runner has Dune
After the release of ArrivalVilleneuve became one of the most prominent filmmakers in Hollywood and was now offered the direction of blockbusters like Blade Runner 2049 et Dune.
«Blade Runner 2049, it was a very educational and challenging project that taught me a lot. I came out alive because I still make films (laughs). It was special because I was following in someone else’s footsteps and had to honor the world of Ridley Scott [qui a réalisé le premier film de la franchise]. Pour Duneit’s totally different. It’s in my DNA. It’s a project that I initiated, a very personal film and for which I returned to writing.”
- The 26e edition of the Gala Québec Cinéma will be presented on December 8 live on Noovo.
