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 “Art is freedom… art is human expression devoid of national borders. A film festival is a demonstration that art is superior to politics, that art is home to diversity. And, that the Mediterranean, the continent of water, brings people together.” Powerful, political terms by Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo and new President of Cinemed, who opened the 41st edition reaffirming the social dimension of a festival which has been working for over 40 years to promote the Mediterranean film scene.
Opera Berlioz auditorium was sold out for the preview screening of Adults in the Room, Costa-Gavras’ latest political thriller set in Greece, fifty years after Z. The emotion of Costa-Gavras during the five-minute standing ovation at the end of the film set the tone for the 8-day silver screen marathon to come.
The festival’s first weekend was marked by another intense, emotionally charged sequence, with Nour by Maurizio Zaccaro, an adaptation of Tears of Salt written by Pietro Bartolo, the Lampedusa doctor who treated 300,000 people on the island and... saw so many perish.
Festival-goer appetite for Italian films has not abated this year! There was much enthusiasm for the retrospective on timeless Italian film icon, Magnani, and for Paolo Virzì’s work, definitively establishing him as the new master of Italian comedy; on the final Saturday, the second screening of La pazza gioia drew 600 spectators to Salle Pasteur and the Rabelais Centre proved too small to welcome all those who flocked to see La prima cosa bella.
Similarly, André Téchiné’s master class was packed out. The audience was enchanted to meet one of France’s greatest filmmakers, so modest and discreet, and whose wildly romantic films treat such steadfastly modern subjects. Thank you Mr. Téchiné!
Spectators proved curious to discover the atypical and protean style of Spanish filmmaker, Isaki Lacuesta, from neighbouring Gerona… a real revelation! The Egyptian film-industry unveiled its new face with producer Mohamed Hefzy. Festival-goers showed immense enthusiasm for competitions and the three French comedies previewing at the Opera Berlioz auditorium gave audiences a great time. The three evening fantasy-film events, new this year, attracted a young audience in search of thrills!
More festival-goers than ever before turned out for Cinemed’s 41st edition: 67,000 entries were recorded, including 330 students from all over France attending the Agnès Varda training course, numerous events for students from Montpellier and side events in the Diagonal, Utopia and Nestor-Burma cinemas.
This is uplifting news for a festival which is always on the lookout for new talent and wider audiences, while staying true to its editorial line. Cinemed is clearly a festival for all of Montpellier, and more widely, all of the Mediterranean!
On October 22nd and 23rd as part of the Cinemed Meetings for film professionals, the Development Aid Grant sessions hosted 15 film projects, awarding two grants and a writing residency. A residency was also awarded to a “From short to long” project, enabling filmmakers in the edition’s short film competition to present feature film projects. More than 200 professional meetings were organised for filmmakers with projects competing in the Development Grant and “From short to long” sections; clear proof of professional film world interest in Montpellier’s Cinemed talent.
An enormous thank you to all: our guests, our main sponsor, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, our patrons and partners, film professionals and journalists, our 130 volunteers and the fantastic audiences which made this, the 41st edition, so very special.
And, as the press (Midi Libre) so rightly and beautifully said, in the end, at the ceremony award, love triumphed…
We are already looking forward to seeing you again in Montpellier at the 42nd edition of Cinemed, from October 16th to 24th, 2020.
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chatelin bruno 
