Ladj Ly and Maria Montessori triumph in Sarlat: the winners of the 32nd film festival

Bâtiment 5 and La Nouvelle femme received two prizes each, from 600 high school students preparing for a baccalaureate in cinema.

“Are you a jury? And you eat popcorn at the cinema?” This little dig sent jokingly by a teacher to one of his high school students at the very beginning of Sarlat festival well illustrates the relaxed atmosphere of this event organized primarily for young students preparing for a baccalaureate with a cinema option. Coming from around ten high schools in France, but also from Canada and the United States for a handful of them, the 600 high school students present for this 32nd edition had their fill of films, in the best possible conditions: projections on a giant screen within the Le Rex cinema, presented by the teams.

Karim Leklou and Stéphan Castang present Vincent Must Die at the Sarlat film festival.

In five days, they were invited to discover a large and diverse selection. The seven films in official competition this year were The New Womanby Léa Todorov, Her Father’s Daughterby Erwan Le Duc, Vincent must dieby Stéphan Castang, Suddenly aloneby Thomas Bidegain, The Cold Headby Stéphane Marchetti, Building 5by Ladj Ly, and The Kings of the track, by Thierry Klifa. A mix of intimate dramas, family comedies, genre films and studies of French society today. In addition, they had access to around twenty sessions, to choose from, within the selection “world Tour”from Perfect Daysby Wim Wenders, How To Have Sexfrom Manning Walker to The Chimeraby Alice Rohrwacher or the animated film My robot friend, by Pablo Berger. Without forgetting the classics of the annual program, such as Ugly, dirty and nastyby Etore Scola or freshly restored 4K documentaries by Frederick Wiseman.

In addition to the screenings, high school students could discuss the works seen with cinema professionals, film short fictional scenes by themselves in the historic streets of Sarlat, an emblematic town of Périgord, or even attend – and even participate for a handful of them- to the recordings of a cultural program from radio France Bleu, which was organized every evening in the lobby of the partner cinema.

Ladj Ly/Léa Todorov, the two big winners of the 32nd edition of the Sarlat festival.

For five days, these students experienced cinema, talked cinema, ate cinema (and not just popcorn!), and their passion is inevitably reflected in their prize list, revealed this weekend. The high school students had two favorites: The New Woman, the first film by Léa Todorov who, to tell the extraordinary journey of the founder of Montessori schools (played by the very right Jasmine Trinca), chose to have her evolve opposite a fictional character played by Leïla Bekhti. Constructing the portrait of a woman who truly marked the history of education by opposing her to an anti-heroine born from her imagination was a major challenge, taken up with intelligence by the young director.

The other big winner of this edition is Building 5by Ladj Ly, the spiritual sequel to Miserable. The director has already announced that he wants to make three films about life in the cities, going back in time. After a shocking first part denouncing a police blunder and its consequences on several residents of a neighborhood, this one focuses on the equally crucial issue of poor housing.

Met the day before the awards ceremony, Ladj Ly was full of hope for this young generation passionate about cinema: “To do a screening in front of more than 600 students is just incredible. Today was the most beautiful session we’ve had for Building 5, with crazy energy. It gives us hope to see this new generation who is here, who is determined, who wants to make cinema, who is interested in committed and political films. It’s great that the youth are here.”

Nahuel Perez Biscayart and Céleste Brunnquell in Her Father’s Daughter.

Here is the rest of the prize list, which also rewarded two fabulous actors: Florence Loiret Caille, in a role very far from the one she played in The Legends Office For The Cold Headand Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, the flagship actor of 120 beats per minute And Goodbye up thereparticularly touching in Her Father’s Daughter.

The complete winners of the 32nd Sarlat film festival:

GOLDEN SALAMANDER, PUBLIC PRIZE, endowed by the Sarlat Town Hall: THE NEW WOMAN by Léa Todorov

GOLDEN SALAMANDER, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PRIZE, endowed by the Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine: BUILDING 5 by Ladj Ly

GOLDEN SALAMANDER, YOUNG JURY PRIZE, endowed by the Dordogne Departmental Council: BUILDING 5 by Ladj Ly

GOLDEN SALAMANDER, FEMALE INTERPRETATION PRIZE, awarded by the Youth Jury: ex aequo Florence Loiret Caille in LA TÊTE FROIDE Jasmine Trinca in THE NEW WOMAN

GOLDEN SALAMANDER, MALE INTERPRETATION PRIZE, awarded by the Youth Jury: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart in HER FATHER’S DAUGHTER

GOLDEN SALAMANDER, SHORT FILM JURY PRIZE, endowed by the La Truffe Association: SULEYMAN by Mehdi and Yanis Hamnane Special Mention SIDELINES by Valérie Leroy

AWARDS FOR THE BEST HIGH SCHOOL FILMS, awarded by Groupama, are awarded to:
1st prize : SEROTONIN from the Gaston Fébus high school in Orthez
2nd prize: LOST SONG from the Honoré de Balzac high school in Paris
3rd prize: AND IF… from the Clémenceau high school in Reims

Favorite prize from the 3IS Bordeaux school: I’LL REMEMBER YOU from René Cassin high school in Bayonne