Opening ceremony
5,000 vibrations of cinema
POSTED OCTOBER 14, 2018
The ceremony lifted up the entire venue where it took place, the vertiginous Halle Tony Garnier, packed to the rafters with 5,000 moviegoers. From exciting announcements to intimate moments, the opening of the Lumière festival revealed all the beauty of its simple and sincere passion for cinema, and those who create it, like an enthusiastic wave that rises up and comes to fill the calm ocean.
The festivalgoers’ eyes gleam as they discover on the big screen the essence of the Lumière festival: its women directors, its actors and screenwriters, each succeeding one another, many through several editions, expressing the same reverence for the art they live by… But the gleam becomes especially keen in the darkened room, witnessing the extraordinary compilation of images that overtake the Halle in a single stroke. Through several clips made by maestro Thomas Valette, Lumière emerges and soars, warmly wrapping its heritage around the richness of modern cinema. And this is certainly what should be celebrated during Lumière 2018: the festival's ability to instigate a dialogue between classics - often shown in restored versions - and contemporary film.
© Institut Lumière / Jean-Luc Mège
Mischief and heartfelt homages
On stage, the guests, recently arrived in Lyon, take the stage for acts that are sometimes funny, sensitive or passionate. When Laurent Gerra, a faithful friend of the festival, imitates Jean-Paul Belmondo - present in the room - or the late Johnny Halliday, Michel Galabru and Charles Aznavour, the entire venue gets drunk with nostalgic laughter. Bertrand Tavernier, director of the Institut Lumière, also enjoys the excitement of this evening, but does not forget to pay tribute to Oleg Sentsov - the Ukrainian director detained in Western Siberia - as well as to a close friend of the Institut, Pierre Rissient. Clint Eastwood appears on the screen to deliver a touching short message about the man who persuaded him to come to Lyon for the first edition of the festival.
Bertrand Tavernier exclaims, "The only thing I can wish for is that we continue for 10 more years!" alongside Thierry Frémaux, Director of the Institut Lumière. The latter, the first fan and connoisseur of the rich and essential “vues” of the Lumière brothers, comments these astonishing images, projected with obvious pleasure. Then, suddenly catapulting himself into the future, Frémaux reveals a utopia, a "City of Cinema" that would be built around the current "Villa Lumière," under the direction of legendary architect Renzo Piano. Camera placed on his shoulder, Claude Lelouch films the 3D model so that everyone can get a glimpse of this long-term project.
“Resisting the passage of time”
Guest of honor of the festival and its opening ceremony, Claude Lelouch takes the stage and discusses, briefly but emotionally, his 50 years of cinema. "I quickly realized that the shortest way to reach my dreams was through cinema," he says. He then slips in that the sequel to “Itinerary of a Spoiled Child”- screened just afterwards - with the same two headliners, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Richard Anconina, is being planned for next year. An announcement that sets moviegoers aflame. "Lumière is the most beautiful festival, the festival that resists the passing of time," he says leaving the stage.
Earlier, the guests, with their distinct voices and multiple languages, had declared the festival open. But Thierry Frémaux, happily dissatisfied with their performance, entrusted the task to the public, which gives its version of 5,000 voices - before being immersed in showers of confetti. Several takes, are needed, as usual, to perfectly tune this unique vibration of cinema.
Laura Pertuy
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Soirée d'ouverture du festival Lumière 2018 à la Halle Tony Garnier
Copyright Institut Lumière / Sandrine Thésillat - Jean-Luc Mège Photography 2018
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Richard Anconina, Françoise Fabian, Charles Gérard, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Christophe Lambert, Jean Dujardin, Elsa Zylberstein & Julie Ferrier
Copyright Institut Lumière / Olivier Chassignole
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Javier Bardem & Guillermo del Toro
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Lucien Jean-Baptiste
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Philippe Lellouche
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Copyright Institut Lumière / Loïc Benoit
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Meher Tatna
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Jean Dujardin
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Laurent Gerra & Evelyne Bouix
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Stéphane De Groodt
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Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marianne Denicourt
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Audrey Dana
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Javier Bardem
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Jean-Paul Belmondo
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Anne Parillaud
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Michèle Laroque
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Candice Patou & Robert Hossein
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Raphaël Personnaz
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Jerry Schatzberg
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Christian Carion & Xavier Legrand
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Christophe Lambert
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Claude Mouriéras & Gérard Krawczyk
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Elsa Zylberstein
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Thierry Frémaux & Laurent Gerra
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David Klimelfeld, Georges Képénékian & Renzo Piano
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Georges Képénékian, Renzo Piano, Liv Ullmann & Jerry Schatzberg
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Liv Ullmann
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Richard Anconina
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Claude Lelouch, Richard Anconina, Jean-Paul Belmondo & Bertrand Tavernier
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Monica Bellucci
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Françoise Fabian
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Jean Dujardin
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Javier Bardem
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Les invités
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Liv Ullmann, Christophe Lamber & Guillermo Del Toro
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Elsa Zylberstein, Jean Dujardin, Vincent Lindon & Javier Bardem
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Liv Ullmann, Christophe Lambert, Guillermo Del Toro, Javier Bardem, Françoise Fabian, Marianne Denicourt, Julie Ferrier & Anne Parillaud
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Les invités
Copyright Institut Lumière / Jean-Luc Mège Photography 2018
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Soirée d'ouverture à la Halle Tony Garnier
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Julie Ferrier, Anne Parillaud, Monica Bellucci, Bertrand Tavernier, Raphaël Personnaz, Thierry Frémaux, Nathalie Marchak
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Soirée d'ouverture à la Halle Tony Garnier
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Claude Lelouch
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Richard Anconina
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Claude Lelouch, Richard Anconina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bertrand Tavernier & Françoise Nyssen
Copyright Institut Lumière / Olivier Chassignole
