1 Unforgettable encounters
“My favorite moments are meeting the directors. One of the very first I received at La Salamandre, ten years ago, was Sébastien Betbeder, for his film “Two Falls, Three Winters”. He is someone I really appreciate, tremendously friendly, very pleasant in debate and never short of anecdotes! When he came, we were already talking about the project for a new room (which dates from 2008). He returns to Morlaix on September 28 to present “Tout fout l’camp”… In the new cinema this time!
Another filmmaker who marked me was Jean-François Stévenin, on the occasion of a retrospective. I’m an absolute fan, I was in groupie mode (laughs!). Better known as an actor, he is also a brilliant filmmaker, very funny, very nice, who presents himself as a guy of the people. During the debates, he had imitated Johnny Hallyday on stage: unforgettable! »
2 A perfect cine-concert
“Often, I’m not a fan of cine-concerts because the musicians are not necessarily cinephiles and sometimes ‘suffocate’ the film. But I have excellent memories of “In the land of the head hunters”, in 2014, with Rodolphe Burger. It was impressive because he is a man with a lot of aura, a musical monument, and what he played was beautiful, intelligent, respectful of the film: it was a perfect film concert! »
3A Night with Miyazaki
“What a great memory, this long sleepless night dedicated to Miyazaki! We had started the screenings at 8 p.m. and ended the next day at 7 a.m.: it was the first time that we had organized this, with the Bay of Books. It had been a huge success, we even had to turn people away. The room was full, people had come with their quilts, dressed up as characters, pandas… There were people of all ages! We had planned the soup and in the early morning, the volunteers of the Bay of Books had brought the croissants.
So the free outdoor screening of “Spirited Away” on Friday, September 23, 2022, at 9:30 p.m., for the birthday party was obvious, a wink: this animated film by Miyazaki is for me an absolute masterpiece, both a very great film, a popular and family film. »
4 “Polisse” at the top of the poster
“Another memory, when I arrived in 2011, is “Polisse”, by Maïwenn… which annoyed me a lot. I hate this movie, which was a huge success! We had to prolong it for weeks. That’s also our job: we don’t only show what we like, we put ourselves at the service of people…”
5 The Salamander… is not who you think
“Sunday September 25, 2022, for the anniversary weekend, we will rewatch the film “La Salamandre”, by Alain Tanaire, with Bulle Ogier, a somewhat forgotten actress. It’s a sad coincidence, because Alain Tanaire died quietly last weekend. He was not as well known as a Godard, but the name of the associative cinema had been chosen in homage to this 1971 film, which at the time it was imagined would mark the history of cinema. So nothing to do with the little black and yellow amphibian, whose silhouette nevertheless accompanies the association’s signage! »
6 Indiscretions for the coming months
“We are already planning two thematic cycles with Jim Jarmush and Douglas Sirk retrospectives. The first is an unclassifiable independent American filmmaker, who explores genre cinema through people on the margins, in search of identity, the marginalized… The second is in the register of 1950s melodrama: you have to come with your handkerchief! And since we also need big promising arthouse hits for our cinema, we have the film “Revoir Paris” with Virginie Efira this week and the black comedy “Sans Filtre”, Palme d’or 2022 at Cannes, which will arrive at the end of September.
We want to say thanks to the writer of this write-up for this incredible content
In Morlaix, the La Salamandre cinema is 40 years old… Memories, memories!