Cinema

Persépolis by Marjane Satrapi, Et toi, t’es sur qui? [Just About Love?] by Lola Doillon, or the two-hour version of Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, were shown at Cannes in 2007. They were also presented in Sevran, Clichy-sous-Bois and La Courneuve, in the Paris suburbs. From 17 to 26 May, ten towns in the département of Seine-Saint-Denis held free open-air screenings of films that were in competition at the Cannes International Film Festival. A genuine success, thanks in particular to the involvement of local voluntary organisations, attracting over 6,000 spectators on some evenings. Indeed, the aim of film director and producer Luc Besson, whose initiative this "Cannes and the Suburbs" festival was, was to "allow residents to participate in an event not normally accessible to them"; it is part of the film maker’s longstanding involvement in Seine-Saint-Denis, where he has chosen to set up a Cité européenne du cinéma (European film centre). It will comprise film sets, cutting rooms, mixing rooms, set-building workshops, as well as workshops for making costumes and models. This complex devoted to film will be open to the various companies in the Luc Besson group, including EuropaCorp, but will also be accessible to other film companies. Its opening is scheduled for 2009 at a cost of 130 million euros, with no state funding.

Audrey Levy
Journalist