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Join Telegram ChannelCharlotte Serrand tells us about her work as programmer of this festival which is both pioneering and general public, which is celebrating its 15th edition.
The festival started this year with For Love by Élise Otzenberger, where Cécile de France plays the main role. An opening film is always a statement on the programming of an edition. How much of a headache is it to choose it?
Let's say it's a path (Laughter.) I'm waiting until I've watched a lot of films before deciding [plus de 140 long-métrages sont projetés durant le festival]. But what allows me to decide is the accessible dimension of the film. I want to show that the festival is made for the general public, even if that obviously doesn't prevent us from offering more adventurous things. For Love didn't seem obvious to me for the opening film the first time it was shown to me. But I saw it again a few days ago, and I realized that it also questions our relationship to cinema, to images. And then the mix between genres that the film offers interests me enormously. This is something that is at the heart of the festival: being able to explore a narrative, an emotion, and not be confined to an aesthetic.
How to be unique and pioneering, while remaining accessible to as many people as possible?
I watch a lot of films. It's a lot of prospecting work in the main festivals of the year, but also a dialogue with distributors or salespeople, who show me the films. We are one of the few general film festivals in France, which allows us to do very broad prospecting. I really take great pleasure in trying to show the whole range of contemporary cinema. Which means being eclectic and allowing all genres. And then there is the constraint of the first French screening, which we impose on ourselves for the competition. It's a kind of filter when there are choices to make. This does not prevent certain exceptions, of course, such as with the “Continuity” section, which allows you to follow directors who have already come to La Roche-sur-Yon, and to continue to defend their work. But the bulk of our work is based on the dimension of the unprecedented, of discovery.
Does programming for the general public also mean fighting against your own tastes?
Sometimes, but not that much. This requires above all being very open, more than fighting against your tastes. I don't really put any barriers for myself and I operate with a desire to immediately share when I see a film. Afterwards, there is a question of balance in the programming, of composing a varied program. For me, a film is a film, regardless of its length or genre. I try not to compartmentalize too much.
The La Roche-sur-Yon International Film Festival takes place until October 20. More information and tickets on the official event website.
Michel Hazanavicius, Cécile de France, Reda Kateb… The beautiful program of the La Roche-sur-Yon Festival