Five directors who go way back with FNC
The Festival du nouveau cinéma’s relationship with Denis Villeneuve dates back to the Quebec director’s first short film, REW-FFWD, which screened at the FNC in 1994, followed by his first feature, Un 32 août sur terre (a restored version of which screens
1972
Werner Herzog. “He came twice. The first time was for a retrospective of his (early) films — Signs of Life, Even Dwarfs Started Small and Aguirre, the Wrath of God. We were waiting for him at the old Grande Bibliothèque. We had sent a driver to Dorval (airport), but he was nowhere to be seen. He was known for taking walks; he walked from Munich to Cannes (in 1974), and he did it to us. He walked from Dorval airport. We were looking for him and then there he was at the Bibliothèque on St-Denis. C’était weird en ostie.”
1980
Wim Wenders. “Ah, the angel. There are many stories, because he came to the FNC about 10 times. All I can say is that he’s very open-minded. He’s the same in Berlin — he helps young German filmmakers. He’s attentive and respectful. The first time he came was with Nick’s Movie (a.k.a. Lightning Over Water), the documentary on Nicholas Ray (director of Rebel Without a Cause). It’s a fantastic movie. I got into distribution because nobody wanted to distribute Nick’s Movie or (Wenders’s 1982 film) The State of Things. I managed to sell both to Radio-Québec. He’s a fantastic personal friend.”
1982
Jim Jarmusch. “We screened Stranger Than Paradise when it was a short. Dimitri (Eipidès, FNC co-founder) and I called it the birth of a new American cinema. The next year, he extended it into a feature and I was with him at Cannes when he won the Caméra d’Or. We were one of the first festivals to present his films.”
1983
Spike Lee. “We showed most of his films, but he came at the very beginning of his career with a film called Joe’s (Bed-Stuy) Barbershop: We Cut Heads. It was a 16mm film he had done at NYU. When you watch the film, and you watch Do the Right Thing, it’s like the same film with more money. He has a way with words. Even my daughter flipped hanging around him; he’s so cool. I went to his school in Brooklyn. I could tell you a lot about Spike Lee. I’m a big admirer.”
1989
Michael Moore. “Ah mon dieu. I had seen Roger and Me at Cannes, and liked it very much. We became friends with him and his hippie family. I said, ‘I want to show your film, absolutely.’ But I got no answer. Finally, (after getting back to Montreal) I got his personal phone number. He was still in Cannes, making a million-dollar deal, which was unheard of for documentaries at the time. When I reached him, he said, ‘Claude, what the f--- are you doing, ostie? I’m about to make the deal of my life. How did you get my phone number?’ I said, ‘I just want an answer. Come to Montreal.’ And he came.”