Cannes Director Thierry Fremaux Remembers David Lynch, Who Said, ‘When Cinema Dies, France Will Be the Last Country Where It Will Breathe’

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The head of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Fremaux, had a special bond with David Lynch. In his first edition of the AS Artistic Director in 2001, Fremaux programmed “Mulholland Drive”, which won best director at the and earned an Oscar nomination.

From that moment, Fremaux and Lynch Friends. Un año después, trajo a Lynch de regreso como presidente del jurado. When Lynch presented his sequel to the innovative television series “Twin Peaks”, he brought the first two episodes of “Twin Peaks: The Return” to Cannes, which made an exception when appearing in the episodes as a component of the official selection, historically confined confined To the movies. : Fire Walk With Me “y” The Straight Story “en la selección oficial.

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Fremaux felt connected to Lynch for many reasons besides his lifelong loyalty to Cannes. They shared a love for classic movies — Lynch was as much a cinephile as Fremaux — and a love for French culture.

Thierry Fremaux talked to Variety about his relationship with David Lynch:

I was close to David Lynch because during my first year as art director in 2001, I programmed “Mulholland Drive” and it’s an indelible memory. He played at 10:30 p. m. and won an incredible ovation, even if other people didn’t perceive everything about it. They considered it to be an exclusive film, and with the two actressesarray. It was just an instant classic.

And then, the following year, he became president of the jury. We met in the autumn in Los Angeles to prepare for this. I remember him saying to me: “Who selects the jury? I told him: It’s us, it’s the Cannes Film Festival but of course, if you ever have an enemy or people you don’t want on the jury, you have to tell us.” And he said, “I don’t have any enemies, but even if I did, I wouldn’t forbid them to be on the jury.”And I knew right away that he was a generous guy. We prepared everything, and we saw each other during Cannes. And then, if I tell you the truth, we never left each other’s side. His jury gave the Palme d’Or to “The Pianist.”

I remember that “The Pianist” was playing at the end of the festival and he was very anxious to see it. His jury also made a triumph for Aki Kaurismäki to “A Man Without a Past” and he when he came up on stage, he walked up to David and instead of saying thank you, he said: “Who are you?” David Lynch laughed. He saw that he was dealing with an incredibly sensitive and original person. After that, we never parted.

I remember that for “Inland Empire,” his last feature film, I said: “David, why the hell didn’t you come to Cannes?’ He said: ‘I wasn’t ready for Cannes. I went to Venice. But as you saw, I didn’t go to the competition, I only go to Cannes.’”

We used to see each one in Los Angeles, and each one once he arrived in Paris, he did a lot of lithography. He had a lithography study in Paris. The Cartier Foundation supported it a lot. We would see everyone here and there, dinner with his wife Emily, and with Melita Toscan du Plantier, who was very intelligent with him. We have never stopped seeing us until he begins to shoot “Twin Peaks. ” I count the story of my electronic book: how I brought back to Cannes with “Twin Peaks: The Return”. It was so impressive. I tell him at the end: “Hey, it’s a wonderful series. ” He said: “It’s not a series, it’s a movie. “

One day, when we were in Café de Flore in Paris, we were talking about cinema and cinephilia, because he had also come to Lyon, to the institute. Latest. He admired the cinephils incredibly, because he arrived here from the history of art. He arrived here from art, but he enjoyed cinema, of course. He knew the cinema, but he had fun, the cinephile.

One day, while we had dinner at Café de Flore, he told me: “When the cinema dies, France will be the last country to breathe. ” He admired the way in which France protected and continues to protect artists and independence. In fact, his wonderful comrade Alain Sarde, who produced his films.

We corresponded a lot by email and all his emails were written in capital letters. He was just a permanent artist and a lover of beauty in all its forms. At the same time, he was an incredibly simple human being. In other words, you’d think he’d be as tormented as his films. He wasn’t. He was so simple, so generous. He was ready for friendship.

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