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The Presence of Laurent Cantet at the 13th FICM

Gabriel Andrade Espinosa, reportero (@gabolonio)

El 13° FICM tiene el honor de contar con la presencia del aclamado director francés Laurent Cantet. Nacido en Melle, Francia, en 1961, Cantet ha realizado siete largometrajes por los que ha sido merecedor de más de 30 premios en los festivales más prestigiosos de todo el mundo, entre los que destacan: la Palma de Oro del Festival de Cannes en 2008 (Entre le murs), el premio Louis-Delluc a Mejor Primer Largometraje en 2000 (Ressources humaines), el premio César a Mejor Primer Largometraje otorgado por la Academia del Cine Francés en 2001 (Ressources humaines), el premio Lumiere a la Mejor Película en 2009 (Entre le murs) y el premio otorgado por la Federación Internacional de la Prensa Cinematográfica (FIPRESCI) en 2009 (L’emploi du temps), solo por mencionar algunos. Laurent Cantet es presidente del jurado del 13° FICM en la Sección de Largometraje Mexicano.

During the presentation and question and answer session Laurent Cantet commented:

On the difficulties in making the film:
“Shooting this film was a real adventure. For example, at times we had to look after the entire crew because gunshots were heard in the distance or because of weather conditions. I can’t talk about this film without recalling those difficulties.”

On how he decided to make this film:
“When I went to Haiti I went there to meet a person. I wasn’t planning on shooting anything, but this country made an impression on me, because of its toughness but also the warmth of its relationships.”

On how it reflects the social situation of Haiti:
“This film addresses the relationship between north and south, all the changes that this has generated, you can say it’s a colonization. I was very eager to tell this story through an intimate approach instead of making a great demonstration of what happened.”

On sex tourism in the film:
“This film describes that period when the dictatorship is ending and it also describes that sex tourism which at that moment was much milder, with more love, not like the sex tourism we see today in the news reports and which is happening in northern Africa.”

In addition to the presentation of his films, Laurent Cantet conversed with Stephen Frears, Barbet Schroeder and Wash Westmoreland, moderated by film critic Nick Roddick, at the Biblioteca Pública of Morelia. You can watch the video: here.