Four years after launching his first feature film there, My brother’s wifeQuebec filmmaker Monia Chokri will return to the Croisette next month to present her new film, Simple as Sylvainin the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival.
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Third feature film by Monia Chokri as a director (after My brother’s wife And Baby sitter), Simple as Sylvain stars Magalie Lépine-Blondeau as a 40-year-old philosophy professor, in a relationship for ten years, whose life changes after meeting an entrepreneur from the Laurentians (Pierre-Yves Cardinal) at the antipodes of his lifestyle.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY IMMINA FILMS
Joined Thursday morning, Monia Chokri was obviously delighted by this second selection in Cannes. Especially since she learned the news late Wednesday evening, the day before the festival’s press conference.
“I found out at 8 p.m.! she says. I didn’t expect anything anymore. As Baby sitter had been presented at the Sundance Film Festival, I was not sure that I was still in the good graces of Cannes. During the editing of the film, I said to myself that I was happy with the result, that I preferred not to be distracted by aiming for a selection in a festival. But I got caught in the act because people around me were convinced that the film would end up in Cannes and maybe even in competition. »
” A comedy chokrian »
During the unveiling of the official selection on Thursday morning, the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux, described Simple as Sylvain as “a comedy chokrian “.
“It’s not completely a comedy, even if that’s how the film was sold, nuance the director and screenwriter. I would say it is less caustic than My brother’s wife could be. It’s a fairly tender and melancholy film, even if you find my humor in the writing. »
This is the second time that Monia Chokri has been invited to present a film at Cannes. The filmmaker opened the Un certain regard section of the festival in 2019 with My brother’s wife. The film had also won a Jury’s Favorite Prize. According to her, this first Cannes experience in 2019 will allow her to approach her next climb of the steps of the Palais des Festivals with more serenity.
“I’m going there in a fairly calm spirit,” she said. For the first film, there was great excitement. There, it seems that I am more in the pleasure. I want it to be a joyful experience. I don’t want to be stressed about the judgment. »
► The 76e edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 16 to 27.