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The Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week at the 16th FICM

Como parte de la alianza que desde 2003 mantienen el Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia (FICM) con la Semana de la Crítica del Festival de Cannes, el 16º FICM presenta una selección de películas que compitieron en esta sección paralela del festival francés. Gracias a esta asociación, Cannes recibe a su vez, algunas películas que formaron parte de la Selección Oficial del FICM.

Semana de la crítica Charles Tesson

Fugue, by Agnieszka Smoczyńska

Accompanied by Daniela Michel, founder and director of FICM, Charles Tesson, delegate of the Critics' Week, presented the first film of the program: Fugue, by the Polish director Agnieszka Smoczyńska. "It's a psychological thriller of anguish, an oversight in time and space," he said of the film.

During the presentation, he expressed his gratitude to be, once again, part of the guests. "I love being in Morelia presenting the films and discovering Mexican films in competition."

He acknowledged that this year, of eight films belonging to the Critics' Week, four were made by women.

Fugue follows the life of Alicja, who has no memory or doesn't know how she lost it. She manages to rebuild herself in two years, new and independent, far from her home. She doesn't want to remember the past. But when her family finds her, she must fit into the roles of mother, daughter and wife, surrounded by complete strangers.

Guy, by Alex Lutz

Director Alex Luzt, together with Charles Tesson and the founder and director of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), Daniela Michel, presented the French film Guy (2018), screened during the most recent edition of the Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week.

"It's an impressive work; very funny, exemplary. Words fall short on describing it," said Daniela Michel, who had the opportunity to see the movie in Cannes.

Directed and starring Alex Luzt, Guy narrates the story of a young journalist Gauthier, who after learning from his mother that he is the illegitimate son of Guy Jamet (a popular French singer during the sixties and nineties), follows him with a camera during a tour in order to record their daily routine and their concerts to create a documentary portrait.

"In the film, we see what this singer achieves, which is to save that memory that we have of the songs that we like so much and that contain many emotions," added Tesson.

Alex Lutz said he was very happy to be at FICM for the first time and would like to return: "Charles has come several times and I know there is a great proposal because I have seen it, so thank you very much for having me".

During the Q&A, the filmmaker said that Guy was planned as if it were a novel, "something more for French audiences than for foreigners, with connections with the artistic icons I referred because it gave it more strength and was better than to invent everything."

When asked why he decided to star in the film instead of choosing another actor, he said it was selfish: "I wanted this story for me, I'm an actor, it would have been very bad to pass the role to someone else and explain what I wanted them to do, I think they would have ruined everything."

"I did not want to do a comedy that was about laughing but to see this in human nature. I thought about everything that is related to daily life, for example, during my grandmother's funeral I laughed three times, maybe because the priest dropped something, forgot the name of the deceased... I think that the sense of humor is part of the things that are in our everyday lives," he concluded.

Chris the Swiss, by Anja Kofmel

Charles Tesson presented Chris the Swiss by Swedish filmmaker Anja Kofmel, a research documentary. It's most important aspect "is its realization from archives and animation" according to the critic.

Chris the Swiss takes place during January 1992 in Croatia. Chris, a young Swiss journalist, is found dead in mysterious circumstances wearing the uniform of an international mercenary group. Anja Kofmel, his cousin, used to admire this handsome young man as a child; now, as an adult, she decides to investigate his story, trying to understand what Chris' involvement in the conflict really was.

Diamantino, by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt

Together with Daniela Michel, founder and director of FICM, and Stephanie Corno Bal, director of Marketing at Nespresso Mexico, Charles Tesson presented Diamantino, winning film of the Nespresso Grand Prix of Critics' Week.

Diamantino portrays the life of a world soccer star who loses his special touch and ends his career in disgrace. Seeking a new purpose, the international icon embarks on a delirious odyssey where he is confronted with neo-fascism, the refugee crisis, genetic modification and the search for the source of genius.

Stephanie Corno Bal presented the three winning short films of Nespresso Talents, which were screened prior to the film. Wenceslao López Meza won the first place with Amapola; Ana Belén Urrutia Bartsch and Sara Manuela Duque, the second place with Naty; and Jessica Quiroz took third place with MIMI.