The rain has emptied the beach and soaked the red carpet leading to the cinema. The seagulls are orphaned despite the gusts of wind, but at the Normandy bar, the flagship hotel of the Barrière group, main sponsor of the American film festival in Deauville (Calvados), which runs until 15 September, we are congratulated: the Americans. In fact, they are back.
After the Covid-19 years, the strike of screenwriters and then actors in Hollywood in 2023 has once again kept away the big names who have been treading the stage of the Normandy seaside resort for half a century.
So here come Michael Douglas, James Gray, Michelle Williams, Natalie Portman, Francis Ford Coppola, Daisy Ridley (British, but star of star wars), Sean Baker – the director ofYearnsPalme d’Or in Cannes, and its actress Mikey Madison, Malia Ann (also known as Obama, daughter of the former president of the United States, who came to present her short film, the heart), Sebastian Stan (Captain America)… Not to mention the filmmakers who are still little known or unknown in the films presented in competition.
An “internal investigation”
It all began in 1974, when Lionel Chouchan, an advertising professional – and a Norman – and his friend André Halimi (1930-2013), a film critic, proposed their film festival project to the mayor of Deauville, Michel d’Ornano (1924-1991). As the former minister’s wife, Anne d’Ornano, writes today in the introduction to a book by Gilles Penso: Deauville, 50 years of American cinema (Michel Lafon, 176 pages, 35 euros), “Michel immediately liked the idea, but he cautiously asked Claude Lelouch and Philippe Labro what they thought of it. They were both enthusiastic.”On September 2, 1975, the story begins. With Nashvilleby Robert Altman, War and loveby Woody Allen, Jonathan Livingston the seagullby Hall Bartlett…
a 50my edition, therefore. Which also marks a turning point. Because in this commemorative book published in August, one name is notably missing: that of Bruno Barde. However, the man had directed the festival for thirty years, since Lionel Chouchan gave him the reins in 1995. The director was relieved of his duties in mid-June, pending the conclusions of a “internal investigation” after publication by Half part a series of testimonies implicating him. Seven young female employees reported behaviour similar to sexual harassment: inappropriate gestures, sexist comments, inappropriate proposals. No complaint was filed, the person concerned denies it, but the organisation did not hesitate to ask him to resign immediately.
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