Dear friends,
The Festival La Rochelle Cinéma came to a close on July 4th with the screening of the new restoration of Cinema Paradiso and a moving ceremony honoring Ennio Morricone, in the company of Gabriel Yared and Stéphane Lerouge.
This very special 49th edition brought us together in La Rochelle’s theaters and screening rooms with an unimpaired desire to see films on the big screen and exchange impressions afterwards. 229 films were shown (151 feature films, 78 shorts) at 334 screenings.
Despite masks, social distancing, and sanitary protocols, cinema shone through. Xavier Beauvois’s emotion at the audience reception for the premiere screening of Drift Away in the Grande Salle of La Coursive, Radu Jude’s modesty and humor showing his Berlinale Golden Bear with Carlo Chatrian at his side, festival-goers’ laughter at Madly in Life, the ovation at the end of Memory Box in the presence of Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, and the whole film crew, Gabriel Yared’s enthralling music lesson, and many other events made this edition extraordinary.
We thank festival-goers, longtime or new, for joining us to view or re-view film masterpieces soon to be rereleased and to discover at premiere screenings many films that will be released in theaters in coming summer months.
Thank you to all the filmmakers and actors who were eager to show their films and meet their viewers: Pablo Agüero, Oskar Algeria, Penny Allen, Raphaël Balboni and Ann Sirot, Xavier Beauvois, Marie-Julie Maille and Madeleine Beauvois, Kaouther Ben Hania, Louda Ben Salah Cazanas, Julie Bertuccelli, Diane Sara Bouzgarrou, Dominique Cabrera, Alain Cavalier, Camille Chao and Hugo de Faucompret, Adrien Charmot, Bruno Collet, Michaël Dacheux and Acid, Nicolas Habas, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Bojena Horackova, Radu Jude, Kamen Kalev, Anas Khalaf, Alexandre Koberidze, Timon Koulmasis, Yannick Lecoeur, Gaël Lépingle, Manuel Marmier, Chloé Mazlo, Patricia Mazuy, Perrine Michel, Damien Odoul and Théo Kermel, François Ozon, Alexandra Pianelli, Pascal Plante, Frédéric Ramade, Alexandre Rockwell, Karyn Parsons and Nico Rockwell, Gianfranco Rosi, Emma Roufs, Charlotte Silvera, Patrick Sobelman, Tamara Stepanyan, Jean-Baptiste Thoret, Petar Valchanov, and Pascal-Alex Vincent.
Thanks also to the musicians Serge Bromberg, Jacques Cambra, Ropoporose, Julie Roué, Simona Strungaru, Gabriel Yared, and Zéro Gravity, as well as all our guests: Gita Aslani Shaahrestani, François Aymé, Isabelle Gibbal-Hardy, Renaud Laville, Eric Miot and Afcae, Raymond Bellour, Alain Bergala, Dominique Besnehard, Frédéric Bonnaud, Stanislas Bouvier, Emmanuel Burdeau, Margot Cavret, Carlo Chatrian, Laurent Cormier, Jean-Michel Baer and Denitza Bantcheva of the Fondation René Clément, Jérémie Couston (who biked in from Brive!), Yann Dedet, Adrien Dénouette, Jean-Christophe Ferrari, Hélène Frappat, Jean-Michel Frodon, Laurent Galinon, Charlotte Garson, Stéphane Goudet, Noël Herpe, Jean-Fabrice Janaudy, Serge Kaganski, Xavier Kawa-Topor, Nadège Lauzzana, Eric Busidan, Rodolphe Lerambert and ADRC, Antoine Leclerc, Cédric Lépine, Stéphane Lerouge, Michèle Levieux, Mathieu Macheret, Thierry Méranger, Frédéric Mercier, Lucie Mousset, Rui Nogueira, Manuela Padoan, Jérôme Soulet and Gaumont, Olivier Père, Sylvie Pialat, Aurore Renaut, Judith Revault d’Allonnes, Sébastien Ronceray, Alexandra Stewart, Charles Tesson, Nicolas Thévenin, Rim Turki and Paloma Vauthier, Magali Valente and the CNC, and Zoltan Zidi.
Not to mention the producers, distributors, journalists, exhibitors, and professional associations, as well as all our partners.
Our site features the photo gallery of this edition and an online audience survey — we look forward to hearing from you!
All filmed Q&As will soon be available here..
Some films from our 49th edition will be released all summer :
– Yet released : February, Skies of Lebanon, The Father, Cinema Paradiso, Roberto Rossellini retrospective, Maurice Pialat retrospective – part 1, Possession
– July 21 : All Hands on Deck, The Truffle Hunters, Luxor, Nadia Butterfly, Sweet Thing (available in French Version with Audio Subtitling / VAST)
– July 28 : This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, Maurice Pialat retrospective – part 2
– August 11 : Property
– August 18 : The Chess Game of the Wind
– August 25 : Coven of Sisters, Thick Skinned
– September 1 : Dear Comrades!, Scent of a Woman
We look forward to seeing you next year, July 1–10, 2022, to celebrate the 50th edition of the Festival La Rochelle Cinéma together!
The Fema team