For a long time I’ve wanted the Festival to express more clearly its political position. For it to assume a few responsibilities as an event that gathers a pretty young audience.
If some themes are very present in the movies that we receive (migrants, old age), others are almost completely absents, or often treated like on TV, or in a militant way, with no cinematographic proprosition. Besides topics like feminism, gender, ecology, open relationships, I wanted to work on matters that have been dangrously left aside or that are now considered taboo, like the risks of STDs. Those thoughts were ravelling through my mind, while I was searching ideas to depict those topics in a creative, fun and inclusive way.
In this context, I’ve found Camille Ducellier’s work. She treats many subjects that are already on my long list, but she adds the one of spirituality ; a theme that I would have never propose and that I’ve kept hidden in the Brazilian and intimate part of my brain. I was eager to invite her to the FIDE, and I sincerely hope that she’ll enchant you too.
Following this, scrolling down the movies’ list, nice surprise. There are a lot of women, right ? ! For the first time in the history of the FIDE, men are outnumbered : 19 female directors, for 14 men.
Before joining the team, I was an enthusiast viewer of the Festival. I never missed a single day of the two previous editions. Not only it was a good way to dicover mutliple and singular masterpieces, but it was also a way to notice that the young generation of documentary makers have an insane and stunning visual creativity.
Ro realize a documentary can sometimes be a real piece of work : recording and creating go together. How can we create- from the raw matter of reality- a point of view, a look on the world ? According to Jacques Aumont, “cinema is in a lot of way, an art of the encounter. Following the path drawn by the Lumiere brothers, shooting is the act to go and meet reality, from the furthest extent of it to the closest.” It would imply to discover the world through the lens of looks ; new looks.
Also the FIDE supports and defends with consistency this effervescent creativity that enlarges our vision, renews the documentary genre and offers to the public a new space to discover, exchange and cogitate.
For this new edition, the team worked twice as hard to offer you a profuse programming, with meetings and debates, with as guest of honor, the director, Alain Cavalier, the genius behing “Irene“, “Pater“, and “Le Paradis“. All of this in a friendly atmosphere, an atmosphere conductive to rich and enlighting talks and exchanges.