When Michael Cimino came in 2012 to present the restored copy of Heaven’s Gate at the end of the festival, he couldn’t believe it. He would never have thought that this cursed film, which caused the fall of the Hollywood studio which produced it, would one day be screened in front of 5,000 people gathered in the Halle Tony-Garnier transformed for the occasion into a cinema. “I had never seen so many spectators at a screening, it was huge! “, the director then confided, on the verge of tears. It’s that little something extra, no pun intended, that the Lumière Festival claims. The one which since 2009 has brought together the general public and film buffs in the celebration of cinema and its history. And it was normal that this happened in Lyon, cradle of the Lumière brothers. Where the first film in history was filmed, Leaving the factory in 1895.
“Lyon deserved to have a major film festival, and it was natural to do it around classic cinema, says Maëlle Arnaud, director of programming. As museums help to recognize painting as an art that has a history, it was necessary to construct the idea of celebrating the history of an art that is still young. » From the start, its founder, Thierry Frémaux, also general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, had the intuition that something had to be done “ambitious, vast and popular”.
From silent cinema to blockbusters
A way of taking these films out of the cinema libraries and film clubs where they were broadcast, to reach a wider audience than just the circle of informed film buffs. A winning bet since in fifteen years of existence, the festival has continued to develop. Attendance has increased from 80,000 people during the first edition to 180,000 today, and now offers, over nine days, more than 450 screenings in all the city’s cinemas.
An event which accompanies and contributes to the growing success of so-called heritage cinema among the public. In Lyon, we prefer to say “classic cinema”. It’s more noble, and less dusty. Especially since we officially classify under this name all films that are more than 20 years old. “Which includes both silent films and blockbusters,” notes Juliette Rajon, director of the international classic film market. This one, created in 2013, takes place during the festival, and is the only one dedicated exclusively to this segment of activity.
A niche market driven by enthusiasts
Paradoxically, it is the advent of digital technology which has contributed to the development of this market, by technically facilitating the restoration of copies and by multiplying the distribution channels thanks to platforms. To the point that some distributors have started to re-release films in theaters. According to the latest CNC study, out of 8,593 films released in 2022, 2,483 were heritage films, or 28.9%. “This of course remains a niche market, with less profitability, but those who contribute to it do so out of passion,” testifies Juliette Rajon.
The other success of this meeting, without competition, is to have been able to establish a bridge between past and present with this idea of transmitting the love of cinema which was so dear to Bertrand Tavernier, traveling companion of the festival. All sessions are presented by a director, “what makes cinephilia very alive”explains Maëlle Arnaud. And the often prestigious guests. Clint Eastwood inaugurated the first edition and we have since seen Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Burton and Wim Wenders. The address book of the Cannes Festival delegate is no stranger to this. “But what also attracts filmmakers, particularly American ones, is this idea of coming to where the first film was shot, testifies Maëlle Arnaud. After declining twice, Coppola agreed to come mainly for that. »
This year, the Lumière prize, the highlight of the festival, will be awarded to an actress, Isabelle Huppert, and we will meet, among others, Costa-Gavras, Xavier Dolan, Benicio Del Toro, Claude Lelouch and Alfonso Cuaron. The closing session will be dedicated to Alain Delon with the broadcast of a restored copy of Full sun by René Clément.
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Fred Zinnemann and Toshiro Mifune on the program
The Lumière Festival takes place from October 12 to 20 and this year will devote retrospectives to American filmmaker Fred Zinnemann (As long as there are men, The train will whistle three times) and the Japanese Toshiro Mifune, Akira Kurosawa’s favorite actor. On the occasion of the Lumière prize, awarded this year to Isabelle Huppert, around fifteen of her films will be screened. The festival has also scheduled, on October 19, a night of horror presented by Alexandre Aja and a family screening, on October 13, with the animated film The 12 Labors of Asterix by Goscinny and Uderzo. Clean. : light-festival.org
