New film by Remi Bezancon with scene shot in Havana

Bezancon, a graduate from ESRA (Higher School of Audiovisual Production) in Paris, has directed two films: Ma vie en l\’air (2005) (My life in the air) and ‘Le premier jour du reste de ta vie’ (2008) (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life), and he will direct ‘Zarafa’ this year.

French filmmaker Remi Bezancon announced to Cubanow magazine that a scene of his upcoming movie “A Happy Event” will be shot in Havana, a city he describes as very ‘cinematographic’ and frozen in time.

Bezancon’s film ‘Le premier jour du reste de ta vie’ (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life) was screened in the recently concluded 13th French Film Festival in Cuba.

On the occasion of the premiere of this movie in the island, Bezançon was part of the French delegation to the event, the largest film festival held annually in Cuba only behind Havana’s Festival of New Latin American Cinema.

The shooting of French filmmaker Remi Bezançon’s new movie “A happy event” will begin in September and it will have a scene shot in Havana, the moviemaker announced during an exclusive interview with Cubanow magazine.

Bezancon (Paris, 1971), who traveled to Cuba for the premiere of his film ‘Le premier jour du reste de ta vie’ (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life) during the recently concluded 13th French Film Festival, said his upcoming work is based on a fiction novel and it will include a scene in Havana, a city he describes as very ‘cinematographic’ and frozen in time.

Bezancon, a graduate from ESRA (Higher School of Audiovisual Production) in Paris, has directed two films: Ma vie en l\’air (2005) (My life in the air) and ‘Le premier jour du reste de ta vie’ (2008) (The First Day of the Rest of Your Life), and he will direct ‘Zarafa’ this year.

“The First Day…” received nine Cesar Awards nominations in 2009 and won three of them (Best Editing, Most Promising Actor —Marc André Grondin— and Most Promising Actress — Déborah François) while the original screenplay, by Bezançon himself, won the Etoile d\’Or Prize.

Bezancon was interviewed by Cubanow magazine.

– What is “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life” about?

– Something I regard as essential in my world the passage of time and time as such. The film narrates five crucial days in the life of a couple and their three children during a 12-year span.

Each day in the movie is dedicated to one member of the family whose steps are all followed from morning until night. This film was watched by a million moviegoers in France.

– Why was it so successful in France?

– I think moviegoers identified themselves with the situations featured in the film, that is, self-emancipation, the first sexual experience, trying to find solutions for couples’ problems and dealing with diseases.

– Is family important to you?

– Yes, very important. I am sure that my life would have been different if I had had another family.

Several questions emerge from the family issue such as, for example, if it is possible to choose what is inherited. My movies —even short films— deal with these conflicts and their answers.

– How do you conceive the filming process?

– To me is like team work. The photographer has his own perspective of the topic and that allows us to provide nuances to the film by combining images, framing, performances and even pictorial influences like those of Eduard Hopper, whose paintings were used in “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life.”

– Why do your films deal with this family-time relationship?

– The passage of time is better perceived in the family. Children grow up, parents get older, and, depending on your position within the family, your perspective of life changes. Each individual develops his or her own relationship with time.

– Does the film have good music?

– A large part of the film budget was used in its music, which for me is essential to identify the different epochs. I think it was a good investment. Although I could not get Led Zeppelin or Nirvana, I did manage to use music by Lou Reed and David Bowie.

A translation by: Kelsi Carr

Source: Cubanow.net