The 17the The edition of the Angoumois event, whose jury was chaired by Kristin Scott Thomas, is enjoying growing success, with attendance increasing to between 65,000 and 70,000 paying spectators.
This year, a breath of fresh air blew over the 17e edition of the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival (FFA). The two big winners of this cinematographic event, which honors French-language films, are outdoor feature films, shot in a wild nature that smells of the countryside and freedom.
Also readIn Angoulême, the Francophone Film Festival under the sign of femininity
The film that won the Valois de Diamant, the highest distinction from the FFA (doubled with the Valois for French-speaking students) is called Twenty Gods (released December 11). This first feature film by Louise Courvoisier delicately depicts the dreams and disappointments of a rural youth, like a sentimental and cheesy epic anchored in the Jura village where the director grew up.
The hero of Twenty Godsaged 18, is nicknamed Totone (Clément Favreau, wonderfully natural and charmingly spontaneous). This loud-mouthed teenager, a likeable joker, spends his life drinking beer and scouring the dances of the Jura. He is soon caught up with reality and must take care of his 7-year-old little sister. To find a way to earn a living overnight, he enters the cheese competition for the best comté in the region.
To make sure he wins, he steals a few dozen liters of the milk that was used to make last year’s winning cheese. Things get complicated when he falls in love with Marie-Lise (Maïwene Barthelemy), the young farmer who produces the milk…
“I really wanted to write a film rooted in the territory, I was inspired a little by the people I grew up with, my village colleagues. It was important that they were non-professional actors who come from the area, who recognize themselves in the story.”said Louise Courvoisier in Cannes, where the film was presented in the Un Certain Regard section last May.
Besides Twenty Godsamong the ten films in competition, By bicycle! is the other big winner of the Angoulême festival, winning three Valois: for music, staging, and audience.
In this lovely two-wheeled road movie, director Mathias Mlekuz undertakes a long bicycle journey from La Rochelle to Istanbul with a friend, following in the footsteps of his son Youri, who committed suicide at the age of 28.
«My son was 22 when he made this trip. We are 60, we drink, we eat. Going to Turkey by bike was a desperate act to find my son. I had the hope that the more I went looking for him, the more I would find him.”he wrote.
The Valois for best screenplay was awarded to Laetitia Dosch and Anne-Sophie Bailly for The dog trial (Switzerland-France), the Valois actor to Marco Luraschi in LADS (France-Belgium) by Julien Menanteau and the Valois actress to Mylène Mackay in Tell me why these things are so beautiful (Quebec) by Lyne Charlebois.
Finally, the Valois “René Laloux” (best animated short film) was awarded to The knots of destiny by Deborah Chang (France).
The 17the edition of the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, whose jury this year was chaired by Kristin Scott Thomas, is enjoying growing success, with ever-increasing attendance levels, between 65,000 and 70,000 paying spectators.
Related News :