Didier Manuel alias Otomo lived this dream period of musical creation. Artist, performer and filmmaker, he is finishing the editing of two documentaries which testify to the beginnings of the Nancy rock scene, with the testimony of those who made it.
“The death of Spatsz hit me hard, I realized that the actors of this scene could disappear, and the idea of the documentary resurfaced“. Didier Manuel, alias Otomo, never loses his huge smile. He punctuates each sentence, each anecdote, even the saddest, such as the one which evokes the death of the co-founder of Kas Product, a flagship group of the 80s which helped put Nancy on the hexagonal rock map.
Performer, dancer, but also man of theater and cinema, the fifty-something crossed this period with the passion of the activist. He was involved in most of the projects that marked Nancy at the end of the century. Unclassifiable, jack-of-all-trades, the Franco-American studied Fine Arts before studying the seventh art: “Initially, it was an idea that I wanted to pass on to my film students, but they weren’t too keen on it. Too far, too old, it didn’t speak to them. The film was in my head, I had lived and grown up with most members of the Nancy scene of the 80s, it was obvious“.
We were in love, and when you’re in love you’re not afraid of anything!
The Double Nelson Group
In its 52-minute version, the documentary “Who killed Nancy ?“describes what is considered the golden age of the Nancy scene, the one that began in the late 1970s and ended twenty-five years later.”It was a time of great freedom” testifies the sound activist Yvain Von Stebut, alias FLX in the Atomic Kids group. In phase with the beginnings of punk across the Atlantic, the first groups of the city cleared with blow of guitars. Double Nelsonthem Wroomble Experience, What Product, Geins’t Naït lay the foundations of the Nancy sound, energetic, crazy and free from influences.
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Surrounded by visual artists, videographers and photographers, they build a scene without realizing it, relayed by a myriad of associations, including Trace Rock, which in turn feeds the Nancy public with the best independent rock groups on the planet. , first in the MJC then at the mythical Terminal Export. The great Term’ era (1989-2004) cemented Nancy’s rock culture. The place, private, has hosted a lot of producers and associations of all genres, from electronic music to metal. Put in competition with public projects, victim of a certain disaffection of the public after the prosperous period of grunge, the Terminal Export keeps a mythical aura.
“It was fashionable not to know how to play” summarizes François Rousseau alias Jo Ravioli in the Wroomble Experience. A career made no sense, the precariousness of living conditions was swept away by the tremendous enthusiasm that fed all the actors of the Nancy micro-scene. To document this period, Didier Manuel plunged into his own archives, nurtured by 40 years of activism, as an artist or organizer. Telling the story when you are involved is not easy. Do not rewrite it, avoid clichés. Enlighten, give to see today, without judging: “I wanted a film that remains tenderOtomo
Do not settle accounts. Even if the voice is sometimes acid, like that of Hervé Mettavant, alias Mélanoche, the owner of Trace Rock. His association laid the foundations for the recognition of rock by the local public authorities. One foot in, one foot out, the work provided by volunteers has led to the creation of a modern music room (SMAC) in Nancy: l’Autre Canal. But its sanitized operation is abused by the elders: “no more need for associations in this structure, there is a programmer! The director did Sciences-po!” tackle Mélanoche, joined by Yvain: “there, there are coaches, musician advisors, hearing risk prevention campaigns… but more freedom!“.
Composing with the public authorities, a balancing act. Obtain their recognition in the cultural landscape without losing their soul, but still taking the necessary aid for creation and dissemination, while remaining in control of their choices. This schizophrenia crosses the documentary in hollow, without being really resolved.
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How do you film the scene when you yourself were an actor in this scene? Didier Manuel easily solves the problem. He cements the subject with his multiple experience, both actor and spectator of the city which has changed a lot in thirty years. Seated on the terrace at the edge of the tram, he is greeted by a couple of artists on their way to a graffiti job: “he’s the son of the former president of Materia Prima, I knew him when he was little, he helped out in organizations, he hung out with us“. Nancy a big family? The documentary gives a magnifying glass effect on this bygone period, when pioneers cleared the land, without worrying about anything: “we were in love, and when you’re in love you’re afraid of nothing” testify the Double Nelson.
The main actors, even if they are still artistically active, have moved away from Nancy. Or go back and forth like Didier Manuel himself who is divided between Nancy and Berlin, La Rochelle and Cameroon, according to projects and collaborations, always between theatre, organization and performance even if the fifty-something admits that he prefers today small structures today: “I’m going on tour with a dancer and a guitarist, I wasn’t used to it anymore! Since the end of Materia Prima, where we took dozens of people on each project, I mostly worked alone… well, there are only three of us, but still I’m a little worried“smiles the artist.
Otomo is full of anecdotes and information. Even with hindsight, it keeps track of who is doing what, like a (large) antenna that continuously transmits and receives. In the age of social networks, it still plays the same role as a transmission belt between energies, without however wanting to put a toe back in local initiatives. He left feathers in the end of Materia Prima, his company, and keeps vivid memories of the deceased Totem in Maxéville, where he organized so many concerts and festivals.
Who killed Nancy ? awaits a television broadcast, before a 90-minute version called So young but so cold which will be ready at the start of the school year and for which Didier Manuel is awaiting distribution in cinemas. A preview at the Cameo is planned with the veterans of the time. “I learned a lot of things while shooting this documentary, and I hope the public will do the same.” rejoices Otomo.
Wim Wenders himself fell in love with Nancy. The filmmaker discovered the city thanks to Solveig Dommartin who was his companion during the filming of Wings of Desire. The actress made her meet all the musicians in the city, including Laurent Petitgand, then in the Dick Tracy. The musician was thus able to compose a good part of the soundtrack of the film. This story, and many others, are told in Didier Manuel’s documentaries.
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