16th The edition of the Lumière Film Festival will feature a stellar line-up including Benicio Del Toro, Tim Burton, Monica Bellucci and Vanessa Paradis, as well as directors Costa-Gavras and Giuseppe Tornatore, who will grace the red carpet in Lyon. It opened with a bang.
Bellucci, who was in Japan to screen a new documentary about the play Maria Callas, was one of the last to appear on the red carpet. After walking a few steps, she playfully gestured as if she’d forgotten something, then reached through the curtains and pulled out a Tim Burton, much to the delight of the 5,000-plus crowd. Burton’s unannounced appearance drew loud applause.
The two famously met and fell in love in Lyon in 2022, when Burton was presented with the festival’s lifetime achievement Lumière Award by Bellucci. The Italian actress has since appeared in Burton’s long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice.
Prior to the stars’ entrance, the festival paid tribute to Michel Blanc, an actor beloved across generations in France who passed away in early October. A clip from his 1979 cult comedy “Les Bronzés Font du Ski” (“French Fried Vacation 2”) was shown, and the audience participated in karaoke style, singing the film’s theme song, originally performed by Blanc. .
Hundreds of phones were lit in Lyon’s huge Tony Garnier concert hall, and after a karaoke session, the crowd spontaneously sang a cappella in a poignant tribute to Blanc. During the festival, a special tribute will be paid to French new wave icon Alain Delon, who passed away in August.
During the ceremony, festival director Thierry Frémaux continued the tradition of showing restored Lumière brothers’ films, reminding the audience that Lyon is the birthplace of cinema. He couldn’t help but give a special nod to del Toro, smiling and saying in his best English:
Del Toro, along with other guests, will be screening selected films and hosting masterclasses at the festival, as is tradition. Their presence draws large audiences to watch classic films and their work, and their enthusiasm is contagious.
French Academy Award winner Justine Triet (“Anatomy of the Fall”) will kick off one of the festival’s new events and will be invited to share her favorite films with the Lyon audience.
Several newly restored versions will be screened, including Jacques Audiard’s “Read My Lips” and Nicolas Winding Refn’s 1996 cult classic “Pusher.”
Quebec wonder boy Xavier Dolan returns to Lumière with Master Class and Special 10th A commemorative screening of the Cannes hit Mommy was held in a 2,000-seat auditorium in Lyon.
Frémaux, who is also in charge of the Cannes Film Festival, will be presenting films such as Coralie Forger’s “The Substance” and Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Most Precious Cargo” in the presence of directors during the festival. , will entertain the audience by showing several films that premiered at Cannes. “The Artist” director’s first attempt at animation, and Claude Lelouch’s “Finamento.”
Costa-Gavras, this year’s guest of honor, was presented with the prestigious Lumiere Award by Tim Burton during the ceremony and received a standing ovation.
This year’s traditional all-night screening is dedicated to French-Chilean artist and director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre), a master of underground cinema. Master classes will also be held.
Festival goers can also enjoy retrospectives where they can rewatch films or discover new ones. That probably applies to the retrospective dedicated to the relatively unknown Matilde Landeta, one of Mexico’s first filmmakers, as part of the fest’s Enduring History of Women Filmmakers section.
Lumiere’s annual retrospective of Hollywood legends focuses on Fred Zinnemann and includes more than a dozen classics such as From Here to Eternity, A Man for All Seasons, and The Day of the Jackal. Select movies. The festival will once again dedicate a retrospective to Japan’s leading actor, Toshiro Mifune, director Akira Kurosawa’s longtime leading role.
A total of 158 films will be screened in around 450 cinemas in and around Lyon during the nine-day event.
The city’s expansive Tony Garnier Hall comes alive again midweek with a family-friendly screening of the 1976 classic film “The Twelve Commissions of Asterix.” Then French horror master Alexandre Aja (“Motherland,” “Oxygen”).
This year’s festival’s Lumière Prize winner is Isabelle Huppert. variety We will be reviewing the world’s best actresses, whose awards ceremony will be held on October 18th. Previous winners include Wim Wenders, Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Wong Kar-wai, Jane Campion, Jane Fonda, Clint Eastwood, Quentin Tarantino, and Catherine. It will be done. Deneuve, Ken Loach, Milos Forman, Pedro Almodóvar, and the Dardenne brothers.