Universal Cinema Film & TV Journal’s Amir Ganjavie recently interviewed Christophe Leparc, the Managing Director for Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. What follows, is part of the interview.
Amir Ganjavie, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): Who makes the final decisions about the selection process in your section?
Christophe Leparc (CL): The final word, or the final cut, is Julien [Rejl], the Artistic Director. But he has got a selection committee, and they are looking at things together and discussing, and at the end, Julien is doing the selection. There are also some correspondents for South America, Latin America, North America, Africa, and Asia, and these correspondents bring films to Julien, who decides how it works. The selection process is in two directions. We open to submissions around the beginning of November of the year before, so everyone can submit their film on our platform, but we also look for [films], everywhere in the world. That is the role of the correspondents.
(UM): And you have your own platform for submissions, you’re not on FilmFreeway?
(CL): Yes, because Cannes is a very specific, you know, I do not know if you can say that Directors’ Fortnight is the sidebar of the main Cannes Film Festival so we only select 20 long features and 10 shorts, we do not need the same platform as for big festivals that bring that retrospective with the competition. But we receive a lot and what we receive is very new films. Most of the time, the film are still not finished and we prefer to keep control of the film with a high level of security of the database because it is the first time that the producers send their films, so it must be very secure and in very personal – adapted to how we work for the selection.
(UM): And in terms of film selection. Do you have any kind of quota in terms of countries, race, or gender?
(CL): No, not at all, no quotas. You will notice that there are always several French films because we are in France because all the French industry is ready for Cannes so we have most of the time, the most interesting proposition from the French industry that comes to Cannes. But in terms of quota, no, I remember, in 2008 or 2009, we had three Canadian movies. The first film by Xavier Dolan (I Killed My Mother), Polytechnique by Denis Villeneuve. And we have another Canadian movie (Denis Côté’s Carcasses) so, no, it is the Artistic Director who considers the films. So of course, there won’t be 10 Canadian films, but there is a possibility of having animated movies. We love the diversity of what cinema can propose.
(UM): Are ticket sales and crowd-pleasers important for your selection process?
(CL): No. It is interesting to speak about the audience and the public because Cannes is not known as a public festival. It is a professional film festival. You can buy some tickets for Cannes, but the general audience is a mix of journalists, professionals, and industry so we cannot consider the way we select film with the composition of the audience.
(UM): And how is your relationship with streaming channels, Netflix for example?
(CL): The film must be released after Cannes. The film, will be released first in screening rooms in France. If it’s Netflix, they accept this rule before putting it on the platform.
(UM): And is it the decision that you make? Or is it because an important part of your support comes from French cinema or French theaters and they don’t like our Netflix deal?
(CL): I think that the theater is really the only option, for you know, Directors’ Fortnight is organized by the French Directors Guild. So, these people are very attached to the chronology of media and consider that the film made for the cinema must be shown first in the cinema.
(UM): And what’s your relationship like with the main festival? For example, if you want to select a movie, will you check with them to make sure they didn’t select it?
(CL): It is a big question. We are the best friend officially, but in the end, it really depends on the level of the film because if we like a film, and we say we want to put it in the Directors’ Fortnight and they have a proposition to be in the Official Competition, we can develop an argument to have the film, for the producers and the directors. It really depends on where you think you will be able to present the film the best, even for example, some indirect critique, it’s only seven films but, you will be very happy. So, you have to show how much you love the film you want to sell it, and after, it is always this way that the film will decide where to go.
(UM): I saw a conversation with filmmakers about their agenda and stuff that they hope to do for French cinema. I’m just curious, is that important for your festival to take into account the working conditions or the political situation?
(CL): Yes, because this matters to the directors and the Directors Guild really wants to talk about political topics and so on, and French cinema is also very involved in political subjects, so yes, it’s important to be the witness of the situation in France.
(UM): And how does this impact, for example, your working relationship with countries like Russia, for example?
(CL): Yes. For example, last year no Russian films, we agree with the rules of Cannes on this and we follow 90% of what they decide.
(UM): Is it important, for example, if movies are submitted to you, that you check, for example, who funded the project? For example, if it is funded by the Iranian government would you consider it, or are you looking more for quality?
(CL): Quality, but you know, the subject is talking for itself in the film…
(UM): So, you’re not very interested or taking into account for example, who funded the project? If it is government-funded or independent?
(CL): If we consider Russia, yes. If we consider that a film financed by Russia cannot be considered, of course. How to deal with Iranian things, it’s always difficult, and this is the quality that matters. And we have this film this first film … I don’t remember the title.
(UM): Hit the Road (2021).
(CL): Hit the Road, yes, Hit the Road. Well, it was, we didn’t look at finances. At first, when we saw the film, it was a hit for us and a very important film. But it’s also a way to let them have a voice in the cinema.
(UM): Any last thoughts on Directors’ Fortnight?
(CL): Yes, we always have some very independent and coming from nowhere films but that is right, that the agents do a very good job. Because they are the first on the project, you can see them in the festival where there some project presented, they are here to be the first one on the project, so they already know but we are trying to prospect everywhere and to and as the selection is open to everyone. If you follow the rules that it must be a World Premiere, everyone can submit their film and that’s why in 10 years, the number of films submitted has grown a lot because you can submit a thing from New Zealand and send a link, you do not need any more to send five rolls of so it is really easy.
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