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The Restored Version of FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER was Presented at the 22nd FICM

Omar Sosa

Celebrating 50 years of producing, distributing and exhibiting French cinema that has transcended in the collective memory of moviegoers worldwide, mk2 presented a series of six films at the 22nd Morelia International Film Festival (FICM). Daniela Michel, founder and director of the festival, together with Rosalie Varda, costume designer and producer, and daughter of French filmmakers Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy, presented the 4K restoration of Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971, dir. Robert Bresson).

Robert Bresson developed a unique, highly modern cinematographic language and influenced many generations of filmmakers. He also wrote a book, Notes on the Cinematograph, which includes many of his brief reflections on the seventh art.

“We had the dream of presenting this tribute to the production company mk2. We had been talking about it for a long time and decided to select a French film for each decade,” said Daniela Michel about the mk2 Program.

Then, the microphone passed to Rosalie Varda, who commented that Bresson was a great friend of her father's, so she grew up listening to the director's ideas and watching his cinema. “Every time I go to festivals I always find film enthusiasts who express their love for Robert Bresson and I remember the first time I saw the film Ladies of the Park, I had a cinematic shock, and that was when I was very little,” added Varda about her relationship with Bresson's films.

“This film, Four Nights of a Dreamer, was almost impossible to see for several years. It was a big deal to convince his widow, Mylène Bresson, to let us restore the film and make it available again,” Varda commented on the value of being able to see this film in theaters.

In this film, Bresson maintains a mysterious, slow, and magical narration and does not bother to give the answer to everything we see. Rosalie Varda took the opportunity to compare the reality portrayed in the film, where there are no cell phones and relationships between people happen face to face, to the contemporary one. The French filmmaker invited the audience to enjoy the film before the screening.