We laughed a lot but not only at the Alpe d’Huez Comedy Film Festival but not only… If it’s the charming rom-com Avignon by Johann Dionnet who won the Grand Prize of the jury chaired by Elsa Zylberstein, films with more serious themes questioned festival-goers.
The box office triumph ofA little something extra and of A fanfare confirms that spectators are no longer looking for “prout with their armpits” comedy but for works that laugh intelligently at today’s world. “If spectators want to have fun, they also want to be taken seriously,” confides actress Valérie Bonneton to 20 Minutes. The sincerity ofA little something extra partly explains his deserved success and opens the door to other filmmakers. »
Serious subjects treated with humor
Valérie Bonneton and Michèle Laroque took this turn with Better daysa comedy where they play broken characters trying to detoxify in a center for alcoholic women. “The prism of humor is a good way to consider social phenomena. A little something extra opened the discussion on disability as we hope to do on female alcoholism with Better days », declares Michèle Laroque.
Same story with filmmaker Michel Leclerc, who walked away with an acting prize for Benjamin Lavernhe for The mix of genres. “I have always placed my comedies in a political context,” he says. What interests me is to start the discussion. » Which his film will certainly do, which addresses subjects like toxic masculinity and violence against women around a feminist organization and a policewoman who infiltrated it.
Be sincere above all
This trend is confirmed by the excellent It’s ira by Enya Baroux who won a double prize for actress for Hélène Vincent and the very young Juliette Gasquet. “Talking about assisted suicide in a comedy did not make my film easy to produce,” explains the young filmmaker. I hope that the triumph thatA little something extra will make producers less hesitant to tackle important themes that affect spectators. It’s now clear that there is an audience for them. » Discussions were going well after the screening of this twisting and serious family story.
“Films like A little something extra et Untouchables have in common the ability to bring together several generations in theaters and get them to talk after the screening, analyzes actor Melvil Poupaud. They open minds without rushing them by making them laugh. » He came to present Rules of the art by Dominique Baumard, amusing thriller around a painting theft, crowned with a Jury Prize. The award-winning short film, Golden fingers by Chryssa Florou, where a young man gets help from friends to rehearse his coming out, confirms this new trend.
“You can laugh at anything as long as you are sincere,” declares Franck Dubosc who came to Alpe d’Huez to celebrate the success of his black comedy A bear in the Jura. The word “sincerity” often comes up in the mouths of artists who believe that it makes all the difference, an observation that the excellent selection of the Alpe d’Huez Festival demonstrated by example.