Abdellatif Kechiche at Cinemed in Montpellier: his arrival arouses indignation

While the 44^e Cinemed edition is here. But the choice of the direction to honor the work of the director Abdellatif Kechiche shocks the movement Man-Woman Occitanie Languedoc-Roussillon. They denounce in particular, at the time of #Metoo, that a director accused of sexual assault, although classified without follow-up, is put forward as much. “Furthermore, this director’s view of women is quite questionable in his way of objectifying them, of oversexualizing them, and many actresses have denounced sexist and violent behavior within the film industry”he accuses in their press release.

Recall that at the screening of the film “Mektoub my love: Intermezzo”, the sex scene had particularly shocked the public at the Cannes festival during its presentation in 2019, where several people had left the room during the broadcast. Harsh conditions that have already caused controversy with “La vie d’Adèle”, which received the Palme d’Or in 2013, and where the eight-minute sex scene between the two women was already disturbing. The actresses Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos also denounced the very trying filming conditions.

“He never hid from being a demanding filmmaker”

But for Christophe Leparc, director of Cinemed, the richness of the filmmaker’s work outweighs these shooting conditions. “On the question of male gaze, I will quote Virginie Despentes: “If Kechiche wants to make an ultra macho film about his libido, I think that’s great; my problem is why there isn’t the equivalent, in front of a Kechiche girl? ». On these working methods, he never hid from being a demanding filmmaker. He will therefore talk about it during his master class, we will let him express himself. Our role is not to sue him but to give him a voice.”

A master class that the director will host on October 28, to retrace his career and review all of his work. “Our role at Cinemed, and me as director, is to highlight the work of a filmmaker, who in just seven films, has become one of the greatest French directors, multi-awarded, as well as the actresses and actors and the crews of his films. His word is rare, that he chose Cinemed to meet the public again, to talk about his work, is a sign of confidence in us and a sign of attachment to our city and our region where he shot several of his films” continues the director, who does not forget to recall that the director has not been indicted.

For its part, the HF Occitanie LR movement calls for a gathering during this master class at 5 p.m. in the Einstein room at the Corum. “We want this action to show our disagreement”, he insists. An action “We get up and we break”, recalling the departure of actress Adèle Haenel at the presentation of the Césars 2020, at the moment when Roman Polanski was named best director for “J’accuse”.