Established in 2007 by the General Council of Alpes-Maritimes and the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, this UNESCO Chair “Cinema and Imaginary” was given a four-year program to accomplish the various points of the official charter. The first finances it and the second manages this project carried by Bernard Asso within the General Council. Supported by the association L* ECLAT, a newcomer in the field of cinema but chaired by Liliane Scotti, a veteran of this sector (she was the director of Cannes-Cinéma and responsible for the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Festival), it represents a university project with an international vocation. “Sharing the know-how of developed countries in cinema with emerging countries, especially at the level of the imagination somewhat abandoned by European cinema in favor of the American,” is the creed of Stefano Leoncini in charge of the Charter within the University.
For now, it includes only five partner countries: Italy, Morocco, Romania, Senegal, and naturally France, but it aims to expand, especially around the Mediterranean. The opportunity is presented with the theme of these 3 days “Mythical Figures of the Mediterranean Space,” intended not only for researchers, creators, producers, and associations involved in the cinema world but also for the public.
Who could better represent this presence of the mythical in European auteur cinema than the Greek Theo Angelopoulos? He has been repeatedly awarded, whether with a Silver Lion in Venice (1988) for “Landscape in the Mist,” the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival (1995) with “Ulysses’ Gaze,” before winning the Palme d’Or (1998) for “Eternity and a Day,” a film that will be screened on Friday evening at the Mercury after his cinema lesson.
The Mercury, which entered the fold of the General Council in September 2007, after the “Studios de la Victorine” operation in January of the same year, will also host the second screening, on Saturday, of “The Sleeping Child” by a talented young director of Moroccan origin with an uncommon path, Yasmine Kassari.
With this UNESCO Chair “Cinema and Imaginary” and its first international meetings in Nice, the department continues its integrated cinema policy; there is talk of a Master in Cinema within the University and the labeling of a Competitiveness Pole “Creative Industries and Innovation” (ICI).
The aim of this Chair is not only to provide a tool for cinema professionals, to establish collaboration among the different parts, to promote heritage by favoring the conservation of collective memory while preserving cultural diversity, as highlighted by Pascal Gaymard (cinema project officer within the CG06) but also to be “a territorial marketing instrument” as defined by Guillaume Arrivé, his counterpart for Culture.
All these people are very strongly hoping to reach the next step, that of exporting this event to Morocco for the Marrakech Film Festival in December 2009. In the meantime, use your imagination by participating in symposia, round tables, and other screening-debates with the already mentioned directors.
Program of the last two days:
Friday 21
from 9:30 am (Auditorium of the National Museum Marc Chagall)
International symposium and round table around cinematographic creation in the Mediterranean, led by Vincent Thabourey, from Cinémas du Sud. With guest of honor Theo Angelopoulos, young filmmaker Yasmine Kassari, and historian and critic Michel Ciment, director of the review Positif, and in the presence of Chantal Fischer, cinema and audiovisual project manager of the PACA Regional Council.
6:30 pm Cinema Mercury (Place Garibaldi)
“Word of Filmmaker”: Theo Angelopoulos (Guest of honor of the UNESCO Chair)
Cinema lesson animated and illustrated by Michel Ciment, director of the review Positif,
10:30 pm Screening of “Eternity and a Day” by Theo Angelopoulos, Palme d’Or at Cannes, in 1998.
Saturday 22 / Cinema Mercury
3:00 pm / Screening of the film The Sleeping Child by Yasmine Kassari, followed by a meeting with the filmmaker, session led by Michel Serceau.
