“I like this subtlety of knowing how to laugh at things before crying”

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Le Pays Malouin: This is not the first time that you have chaired the jury of a festival. How do you see this mission?

Arielle DOMBASLE. I was president of the jury at the Deauville American Film Festival, and also, several times, at the Chéries-Chéris LGBTQI Film Festival. This allows you to discover a considerable number of arthouse films, it’s very enriching.

When we love cinema, it’s absolutely fascinating to talk about it, to jointly understand why we like this or that work, to explain what touched us, to share our enthusiasm or our criticism. Francis Ford Coppola said that he made films for French critics, because they are the sharpest, the most thoughtful and the most laudable.

What do you expect from a good film?

Cinema is the 7th art but also a combination of all the arts. We go to see films for different reasons: sometimes we just want to spend a moment, we just want toentertainmentas the Americans say, to think of nothing and let yourself be carried away. Other times we want to be upset, to cry, to see a melodrama that will enlighten us about our own lives. There are so many ways to approach cinema, that’s what’s wonderful. It is a very complex art. I don’t know how people managed to live without cinema!

What is your opinion of British cinema?

Among the films that touched me, many are by British directors. We can cite Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, but there is also David Lean who made wonderful films, and Ridley Scott whose first feature films dazzled me. Blade Runner is a classic that must be seen or rewatched.

Did you know Dinard and its festival?

I had heard about the festival, which is specialized, loved and recognized, but I knew neither the city nor the Emerald Coast.

It’s dazzling.

I’ve never been around here, oddly enough.

You are a singer, filmmaker and actress at the same time, in short an atypical artist. Do you like to confuse the public and the critics?

Confuse, no, I wouldn’t use that word. But I take a lot of treacherous paths; I like to go where my freedom allows me to go.

Would you say that you share with the British a certain irony about yourself, given your regular participation in Les Grosses Têtes?

No, but I really like British humor. I like this subtlety of knowing how to laugh at things before crying.

The Big Headsit is a radio exercise which for me takes the place of psychoanalysis. It makes me feel so good to laugh. With this show, I have new friends and I feel like I’m going back to school.

What is your view on the #metoo movement which has made it possible to denounce sexual violence in cinema?

I have always been a feminist and on the side of women. My latest album, Iconics, honors those who liberated thought, who acted for women’s rights.

The #metoo movement is a step towards rebalancing things between men and women. This imbalance has lasted for twenty-one centuries, it is time for voices to be raised. We must be on the side of good, of justice, of justice.

So you support women who have the strength to speak?

Absolutely.

What Simone de Beauvoir said, “you are not born a woman, you become one”, is more true than ever.

Olympe de Gouges, two years after writing her marvelous declaration of the rights of women and citizens, had her head cut off… So things always have to start again.

In France, we have the right to speak, we have the freedom to say things; let’s not forget that this is not the case for our Afghan sisters, nor for Iranian women, nor for a huge proportion of women in the world.

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