Editorial Décibels

Taking full advantage of the fact that the entire team will be on hand for the ciné-concert scheduled during the Festival, the program DB1 focuses on the work of As Human Pattern, the filmmaking duo behind the visual world of Oiseaux-Tempête, and Khamsin, the documentary about the recording of their third album in Lebanon, which used musician’s from Beirut’s free improvisation scene. They wanted to shoot the film in Beirut as a way to explore a creative context with multiple stakes, touching on the political as much as the human. Only a few weeks ago, the film received the Special Jury Prize at the Torino Film Festival. A series of meetings with the musicians and filmmakers is scheduled during the Festival.

Baloji. This kid does not lack for talent: a peerless filmmaker and musician, he is part of this year’s Lab Competition with Zombies, and he shows off the breadth of his talent with “Peau de chagrin” in our DB2 program. From the Congo we move on to the Nigerian roots of the English filmmaker Jenn Nkiru, a member of last year’s Lab Jury and winner of the CANAL+ award for Rebirth Is Necessary in 2018. In her documentary Black to Techno, she explores the origins of the techno movement within Detroit’s black community in the mid-80s. Keeping to electronic music, get ready to be head-butted by Gaspar Noé (Irreversible, Love, Climax) and SebastiAn in a celebration of French music. The same goes for Kompromat and the video “Niemand” directed by Bertrand Mandico, a regular at the Festival through his numerous program appearances. It features Rebeka Warrior, a member of this year’s National Jury. In another strong performance that denounces the toxic climate against Brazil’s LGBT community by Bolsonaro and his extreme right-wing government, Teto Preto lights a match in “Gasolina”. The radiant “I Am Easy To Find” follows the life of Alicia Vikander (Jason Bourne, Ex Machina and The Danish Girl), over the eponymous song by The National. With their melancholy angst drowned in sunlight, our favorite Tindersticks choose Super 8 to stoke our desire to get away to the Cyclades. We close the program with a nod to our late friend Matthieu Buchsenschutz, who passed away last year: “Concert à emporter” a one-off for the Blogothèque from 2015 shot with Fredo Viola on the very site of the new Comédie de Clermont theater.

Shout out to Matthieu!