30th edition of Fantastic’Art: Gerardmer’s heart beats again for the fantastic
January 23, 2023 Jonathan Blanchet
The jury of the festival in 2009 with Bérénice Bejo returning as co-president this year.
© © AbacaPress
After two special editions hampered by the Covid epidemic, the fantasy film festival promises to fully invest in Gerardmer from January 25-29. A flashback that coincides with the anniversary: thirty years of the inseparable meeting of the Pearl of the Vosges, which still contributes to the formation of its image today.
They say festivals are one with the land that hosts them. This is perhaps even more true with the Gérardmer fantasy film festival, which was born from the ashes of the Avoriaz festival just thirty years ago and remains inseparable from the image of the Pearl of the Vosges. It’s very simple, it sets its own pace throughout the city: we drink, eat, read, listen and watch fantastic. In 2023, its anniversary edition will be reborn a little: two years on and the Covid epidemic, which forced the festival to adopt hybrid formats (one edition was carried out through intermediate screens, the other with reduced dimensions), the organizers ate their black bread, like many of their colleagues in culture. The projections on his computer screen? There is no going back there. “Festival is life, meetings, human experience! “Indicates the organization that adheres to the restriction. This year, the event aims to reconnect with the 40,000 spectators who will flock to the shows. But not only that.
An intergenerational festival
As health regulations allow the masks to fall, all Gerardmer will breathe Fantastic’Arts again. In addition to the films, you’ll find a plastic art exhibition at Villa Montplaisir that pays homage to a fantastical culture featuring a dozen or more artists. The final list has not been finalized and applications are still pouring in as we write this. Espace Tilleul will also be reinvested by Le Grimoire, a literary exhibition well known to festival goers. No fewer than thirty authors have already been confirmed and the list should be finalized by Christmas.
The future seeds of novelists are already on the bridge with a short story competition involving Nancy, Gérardmer and surrounding students from their fourth year to their final year. A bit more in touch with good habits, the festival will also host a comic strip exhibition at the Maison de la Culture et des Loisirs. Performances of live shows in fantastic colors can also be part of the celebration at the town hall.
The fantasy film festival is also a concert dedicated to the genre’s most beautiful scores (see opposite) and will be held at Gerardmer Cathedral. According to the festival team, it’s the perfect place to socialize with fellow sci-fi fans who never miss a meeting, and between newcomers and more seasoned audiences who are the core of cool. “At Gerardmer, the public comes to find things they don’t see anywhere else. The peculiarity of fantasy is that it is a transversal genre between generations. Which today is transferred by VHS before reaching theaters and streaming platforms. In an era where we continue to say it’s complicated for darkrooms, the Gerardmer festival has a lot to offer. “If the future of cinema is the organization of screenings, we are quite well positioned here.” One indicator can prove this without difficulty: hotel reservations around the event, obviously, do not contradict themselves.
Michel Hazanavičius and Bérénice Bejo, double chair of the jury
This is perhaps the first time that a couple has acted as jury presidents for a double film festival. In Gerardmer, Michel Hazanavičius and Bérénice Bejo will participate in the rehearsal and judge the debates to select the most outstanding feature films in the competition. Bérénice Béjo was already a member of the Fantastic’Art jury in 2009. Since then, the duo have been working together on Coupez!, a remake of the surprise-filled Japanese zombie film released last year. This is evident for Hazanavicius, who began his presidential career in The American Class, a feature film from Warner Bros. A certain skill, ingenuity, art of transgression, which is also involved in the creation of the greatest classics of fantasy.
In a fantastic concert
A soundtrack concert is among the events already booked for this upcoming anniversary edition of the fantasy film festival. Organized by the Gérardmer music school, which has been working on the pieces for a year, it will be held on January 29 in the Gérardmer church, a perfect venue that allows the public to benefit from the acoustics with small onions. Drums and winds will be part of it. The little mouse informs us that the score of 2001, a space odyssey and the lyrical flights of Richard Strauss, will be given with the gothic and ethereal ballads of Tim Burton’s favorite composer, Danny Elfman. We wouldn’t be surprised to hear the lamentations of a certain Edward Scissorhands. Confusion will also be heard around King Kong, the legendary mythological creature. We shudder just remembering it.
Performance (free) at Gerardmer Church on Sunday 29th January at 3pm
30e Gerardmer Fantasy Film Festival
25-29 January 2023 in Gerardmer
Info: festival-gerardmer.com
Prices:
Ticket for one session: €10
Festival ticket: €100
3-day ticket from Friday to Sunday: €85
Weekend ticket: €64
Pass on Thursday or Friday: 32 €
Saturday ticket: €48
Note : Most of the events related to the screening of the films included in the selection are free.
