Produced by a group of students from the London Nautical school who are participating in a film-making programme established by the Cinémathèque Française in Paris called ‘Le Cinéma, cent ans de jeunesse’ (Cinema, 100 years young), this short film is their final “essai” solution to the challenging brief provided by the Cinémathèque
This film was conceived, written, performed, filmed and edited by students. There were adults around, we filled out the forms, kept the batteries charged, mediated the conversations and did the boring post-production.
The film premiered at the Cinémathèque Française in Paris on The 7th of June 2013.
Here are some of the notices from the “Godfather” of the ‘Le Cinéma, cent ans de jeunesse’ (Cinema, 100 years young) programme Alain Bergala:
- “C’est un film où l’on voit, on sent.”
- “Pas besoin de dire, tout est là.”
- “C’est un film de cinéaste.”
- “C’est costaud.”
- “Mieux que certains films de la Fémis.”
- “Quelle preuve de maturité, c’est extraordinaire pour des gens de cet âge-là.”
- “et puis ce n’était pas un film bien-pensant”
- “j’ai été très ému.”
- “certes il n’y a pas de compétition mais s’il y a un film qui sort du lot c’est bien celui des p’tits anglais”
- “It is a film where we see, and feel”
- “(…) where there is no need to put word on things, everything is there in front of you”
- “C’est un film de cinéaste.” -> ‘cinéaste’ means ‘professional film director’, but a director who is an artist before anything else. It is an old French expression which emphasizes the opposition between commercial cinema and pure, creative and artistic cinema
- “It is a solid film”
- “Better than some films made by the student of La Fémis” -> ‘La Fémis’ is a French film school, one of the most prestigious in the world
- “It demonstrates so much maturity, it is extraordinary for people of this age”
- “And it wasn’t a conformist film!”
- “This film really moved me”
“Sure, Cinéma: Cent ans de Jeunesse isn’t about competition, but if one film had to stand out, it would be the one by the small Brits!“