After an edition devoted to politics in 2022the 23rd Cinematographic Days, which open this Thursday evening in Saint-Denis, focus this year on the “satellite views of cinema mainstream ». “It’s about talking about filmmakers who think outside the box and exploring cinema through its margins,” says Géraldine Cance, the festival’s press officer.
Highlighting mainly independent directors, the approach is also political: “we want to work with filmmakers who go against the grain, who come out of the system, who produce themselves,” she says.
Classics, unseen in the history of cinema, more recent films: in total, around sixty screenings are planned and 50 guests announced, including Ken Loach, guest of honor at the festival. A day will be devoted to him on Tuesday, February 7, where seven of his films will be presented. An exceptional meeting is planned with the English director around his film “Which Side are you on? », in the evening, at the cinema L’Ecran, in Saint-Denis, organizer of the event.
The suburbs will also be in the spotlight
Among the personalities present, we will also note the American director Patrick Wang or the Brazilian cartoonist and director Marcello Quintanilha. A special tribute will be paid to actress and director Elina Löwensohn (“ Schindler’s List”).
This Thursday evening, it is the director Laura Poitras, who inaugurates the festival by presenting a preview of her documentary “All the beauty and the blood spilled”, awarded at the 2022 Golden Lionsin Venice (Italy).
This year, the organizers have also chosen to join forces with the Ideal Cinematheque of the suburbs of the world, a project driven by director Alice Diop consisting of listing films from around the world set in their suburbs. 15 films that tell the suburbs from the inside will be screened during the festival. “We are going to rediscover the suburbs of France and elsewhere from an angle that we want to be original,” explains Laurence Reymond, festival programmer, in a press release.
The Film Days thus aim to give another look at cinema and society, while meeting many outstanding filmmakers.
Films from the Film Days are screened in four cinemas: L’Écran in Saint-Denis, Le Studio in Aubervilliers, L’Étoile in La Courneuve and Espace 1789 in Saint-Ouen. The program and the ticket office can be found on lecranstdenis.fr
