1-10 November 2013
Alain Guiraudie Press Conference
French filmmaker Alain Guiraudie held a press conference on Friday, 8 November 2013, in the framework of the 54th Thessaloniki Film Festival. TIFF director Dimitri Eipides attended. The 54th edition of TIFF is hosting a tribute to the work of the filmmaker, screening representative works from his filmography.
Mr Eipides welcomed the French director, screenwriter and actor, who won Best Director in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival for his film Stranger by the Lake: “I am very pleased to welcome here an acclaimed filmmaker, a very important personality of French cinema. I recently discovered Alain Guiraudie at the Cannes Film Festival, where I watched Stranger by the Lake, a film also screened at the 54th TIFF. It is an extraordinary film, with great performances, representative of the best traditions of French cinema.”
Guiraudie was born and grew up in the French south. Asked whether that environment influenced his filmmaking, he replied: “I don’t know if it was specifically the French south or more generally the fact that I grew up in the provinces, in a rural area. My rural childhood surroundings undoubtedly influenced my character.”
According to the director, filmmaking means “presenting the world in a different way, a way that departs from the mainstream. Otherwise cinema would be pointless.” Guiraudie followed a career in the movies prompted by his dream “to rebuild the world from the beginning. I am interested in approaching reality directly, while giving my personal view. I aim at representing and commenting on reality, while also making my audience dream. I like the idea of naturalism.”
Asked about the way in which he presents sexuality in his films, the French filmmaker said: “Representing sexuality in a natural, unforced way is the most difficult thing, since it is a deeply personal matter. It is also hard to avoid cinematic cliches and stereotypes when reminiscing about our own experiences. I touched on gender-related, sexual issues late in my career. Stranger by the Lake is the result of my personal reflections on how to best depict passion, its sexual expression and sexuality between men. I don’t think I was entirely successful in presenting those themes in a natural way. I am quite pleased with my film, but I think I could have taken it a step further.”
Commenting on the audience reception of the film, Mr Guiraudie observed: “Their reactions surprised me. Before going to Cannes, I was very anxious about the premiere, and about how my film would be received by an audience of 1,000 people. I was prepared to deal with rejection from part of the public and critics. The positive reception of the film surprised me. The one exception was Lebanon, where my film was censored. Everywhere else, it was warmly received by audiences. Besides, only rarely will someone come and say “your film sucked.” Usually, people approaching you have only good things to say.”
Addressing a question about the concept of running away in his films and his protagonists’ escapist tendencies, the filmmaker explained: “I would say that the characters in my films follow a cyclical course. I am not sure whether they are able to escape, but I do like the idea of them running in circles. I also believe that cinema should be physical.”
Commenting on the ambiguous finale of Stranger by the Lake, Guiraudie observed: “I think it is natural that the film starts from realism and gradually evolves into abstraction. It begins with a world that is hedonistic and sunny and ends up in a dark nightmare. I chose this ending for many reasons; one of them was that it has an intensely existential character.”
Asked about the incidents of censorship and whether his film shares common elements with the Cannes winner Blue is the Warmest Colour, Mr Guiraudie said: “Only the posters were censored, and only in two towns, whose mayors are against same-sex marriage. I believe what my film and Blue is the Warmest Colour do have in common the fact that they have moved beyond homosexuality. Neither film is treating homosexuality per se -their themes are love, lust, passion. Such films contribute in universalizing the homosexual experience, becoming comments on people in general. The label “gay films” bothers me. Now, in the case of Blue is the Warmest Colour, I wonder why a heterosexual director would make a film that shows two women making love. I believe his intention is to provide a saucy spectacle, something I generally try to avoid.”
Tributes to filmmakers are financed, along with other actions of the 54th TIFF, by the European Union - European Regional Development Fund, in the framework of the Regional Programme for Central Macedonia - 2007-2013.
