The festival is open!
 

POSTED ON 16 OCTOBER 2022

All generations of artists were in attendance to kick off the latest edition of the Lumiere Film Festival.

The 14th edition of the Lumière Film Festival, which will celebrate the work of Tim Burton until October 23^rd, kicked off on Saturday, as is customary, in the huge hangar in Lyon, which has been transformed every year since 2009 into a temporary temple of world cinema for this major film event..

© Jean-Luc Mège Photography

At the beginning of the ceremony, a vibrant tribute was paid to the recently departed filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, featuring an extract from Contempt, while awaiting Wednesday’s screening of the documentary Godard, Seul le cinéma by Cyril Leuthy.

And suddenly, 5,000 pairs of wide eyes were transfixed, as if under a spell, in front of the giant screen of the Halle Tony Garnier, in a theatre plunged into darkness, to give way to the first emotions of the finely curated selection of 2022, almost entirely dedicated to the classics of the 7^th Art.

"What a joy it is to open this festival together. This yearning for cinema has been with us for a very long time. The films of yesterday are strongly linked to those of today. This is a sustainable festival with non-disposable films and directors who are supported and celebrated", exclaimed Irène Jacob and Thierry Frémaux, President and General Director of the Institut Lumière, after welcoming the first guests of the 14^th edition, which will feature a myriad of classics, discoveries and curiosities.

Then Franco-Greek filmmaker Costa Gavras, actresses Marina Foïs, Leïla Bekhti and Sabine Azéma and actors Damien Bonnard, Samuel Le Bihan and Gérard Jugnot (to name but a few!) were warmly applauded on the red carpet by the audience. Finally, the team of the opening film, the crime comedy The Innocent, namely Noémie Merlant, Roschdy Zem and Louis Garrel, director and actor, took to the stage.

On the applause meter, filmmaker and actress Nicole Garcia and South Korean director Lee Chang-dong, guests of honour, also did splendidly. Over the next few days, they will introduce their films and on Monday they will each hold what’s sure to be an exciting master class.

There is no doubt that the red carpet guests, the host of feature films and their directors will be celebrated in the theatres of Lyon, where Tim Burton's monsters will never be far away.

Benoit Pavan