And we’re off!

PostED ON OCTOBER 10

The stars and audience came together to declare the 13th Lumière festival open during the gala event, attended by a packed crowd at the Halle Tony Garnier. Laughter later ensued during Act II of the night, with the screening of Buster Keaton's flick, The Cameraman.

“It’s formidable!" The eternal and ardent cinephile Bertrand Tavernier’s go-to exclamation kicked off the 2021 edition of the Lumière festival.

The evening began with a magnificent video tribute to this man who served as President of the Lumière Institute for nearly 40 years. 5,000 enthusiastic festivalgoers gave a standing ovation to honour Tavernier’s memory.

The celebration blended past and present, with a short homage to Jean-Paul Belmondo, who also passed away this year, to Édouard Baer and his keen sense of the phrase, "With flops and passable films, one builds a small career" - or Italian Paolo Sorrentino, entertained by the festival's nod to his passion for Diego Maradona.

Another prestigious guest, Philippe Sarde, the composer of 300 film scores, was in attendance. His famous Chanson d'Hélène, written by Jean-Loup Dabadie, was given a moving rendition by Alain Chabat and Irène Jacob, accompanied by pianist Didier Martel. Quoting the poet Bukowski, Jacob, the actress and new president of the Lumière Institute expressed her emotion at taking on this responsibility: "Be on the watch. There are ways out. There is light somewhere. It may be dim, but it defeats the darkness."

© Jean-Luc Mège

Improvised orchestra conductors for an evening, genial troublemakers Benoît Poelvoorde, Édouard Baer and Alain Chabat presided over the famous ‘Open!’ declaration, subsequently pronounced in all languages: François Damiens in ‘Brusselese’, Paolo Sorrentino in Italian, Maggie Gyllenhaal in English, and Joachim Trier in Norwegian. But Rossy de Palma brought the house down when she exclaimed, "¡ Declaramos el festival de Lyon abierto!”

© Olivier Chassignole

Benoît Pavan and Charlotte Pavard