Christine Scott Thomas. “You are very lucky to have a country where new voices are allowed to speak.”

For seventeen years, it was the inexplicable event on the eve of the start of the school year for French cinema. Created by Dominique Besnehard and Marie-France Brier, it’s rich with an eclectic program that mixes previews (the barbarians By Julie Delpy Sarah Bernhardt, Divine, with Sandrine Kiberlain…), competition films (dog trial By Letitia Dosh twenty gods, by Louise Courvoisé…) and other events (including a spotlight on Valerie Donzelli), the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival will be chaired this year by Christine Scott Thomas.

If Hollywood has regularly rang her doorbell, the British actress has also often stood out among French authors: Francois Ouzou, Philippe Claudel, Catherine Corsini, Pascal Bonitzer… in the middle of filming the last season of the series. slow horses he talks about his love for French cinema and looks back at some of the highlights of his career.

Madame Figaro. – What is the pleasure of chairing the Angouleme Francophone Film Festival?
Christine Scott Thomas. – Huge. I was invited there several times with films, but unfortunately I could not participate. I’m going there for the first time, and as the president, please. It’s a joy to be able to immerse myself in French-language cinema, which I miss so much. I’m way behind schedule. i live in england and french movies are very hard to come by there.

What role did French cinema play in your film education?
My love for cinema was born when I discovered it too late one evening Man and womanBy Claude Lelouch, on TV. I must have been 12 years old. I was completely captivated. It made me cry, loving the raincoats, the Normandy beaches, the rain, the sound of windshield wipers, and Anouk Aimee, who the festival pays tribute to this year. Later, at age 17, I remember driving miles to see it The Lacemaker, With Isabel Huppert. And when I arrived in France in 1980, the man I married, the father of my children, took me to see. disdain By Jean-Luc Godard. I was definitely bitten!

Are you the latest fan?
robbery By Iris Kaltenbeck. I have never seen a birth scene so well shot and Hafsia Herzi is stunning. It all rings true. It’s remarkable to see these young directors come out and offer other perspectives, other stories. I recently discovered too Yannick. Pio Marmai surprises me every time. he is not afraid of anything and does not watch his game. Everything I like. I was also blown away by Raphael Quenard, a fascinating new face. You are very lucky to have a country where new voices are allowed to speak. We produce so few films in England… I hope that will change with our new government.

My love for cinema was born when I discovered it too late one evening Man and womanBy Claude Lelouch, on TV

Christine Scott Thomas

You recently shot your first film. North star not yet published here…
Not too long, I hope. This is a woman’s film based on my childhood experiences. It is the story of three sisters who, like me, lost their father and stepfather. The rest is fiction. when my characters’ mother decides to remarry a man who suits her perfectly, they struggle. It’s a comedy about our relationship with our parents, dead or alive, and how we can idealize them.

What did you learn from directing?
When I am an actress, I know what I am doing. There, suddenly, I was a leader, but I lacked anchoring. It took me a few days to realize that I didn’t have permission to ask. Everything was smoother when I assumed my place. Moreover, I had the opportunity to work with an extraordinary team and actresses: Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham and Scarlett Johansson, whose mother I play for the third time. The Man Who Whispered in Horses Ears And Two sisters for a king. He immediately agreed to go this way with me, to extend our beautiful story.

And you, you still have the same thirst for games.
Yes, when I am not offered roles that I have already performed or read a thousand times. For me, cinema should be a flight into the unknown, vertigo. I do this work to live different spaces, to live different lives than my own. But novelty is rare on screens. Fortunately, I have an incredible opportunity to live in a country where theater is king. The stage is part of the history of British actors, part of their DNA, and I myself have to recharge my batteries there regularly. It’s the only way I can flex those gaming muscles.

I do this work to live different spaces, to live different lives than my own

Christine Scott Thomas

Your son Joseph Olivens is an actor. Would you like to work together?
It would be great, but I don’t think I could write for us. it would be too emotional. But I would like to be offered something. Something terrible, like the polar opposite of our relationship. But at the moment he is very busy. has his own theater troupe, which is a hit, and alternates with film roles such as valley of fools By Xavier Beauvois (released November 13, editor’s note)

Four weddings and a funeral is celebrating its 30th anniversary. What does this comedy represent in your career?
Confirmation that it is possible to make very high quality mainstream films. I’m lucky to have a few in my filmography. The English Patient, The Man Who Whispered in Horses’ Ears, Don’t tell anyone… Four weddings different in that it has become a cult. In England this is called a family favorite. He’s on TV every year at Christmas. They tried to reimagine it, but the series didn’t work. Because we weren’t into it, obviously. (Laughs).

Angoulême French-speaking film festival, August 27-1^eh September filmfrancophone.fr: