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Catherine Frot: 'There is such humanity in the kind of social issues tackled by UK filmmakers'
Photo: Richard Mowe
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There is no denying the love of all things British that pertains in Dinard, the Brittany town that hosts le Festival du Cinéma Britannique every year and now in its 34th edition.
Everywhere you turn there are Union Jacks, a red telephone box, a blue police box and an unmistakeable statue of Alfred Hitchcock, adorned with the odd passing seagull. The town is twinned with Newquay just across the sea.
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The spirit of Alfred Hitchcock looms large over Dinard
Photo: Richard Mowe
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The red carpet for last night’s marathon opening must be one of the longest in any festival - it stretches half the length of the main street where crowds of onlookers and well-wishers line-up enthusiastically.
Last night many of the film teams were on parade including Shirley Henderson on hand to present the opening title (also in the Competition), The Trouble With Jessica, a spirited black comedy that dives to the nub of relationships over a fraught dinner party and beyond.
Audience interest was whetted even further by the appearance of Catherine Frot, a treasure of French cinéma and stage who is president of this year’s jury. She has strong Anglo-Saxon streak have portrayed the redoubtable Prudence Beresford in three French cinema adaptations of Agatha Christie, directed by Pascal Thomas.
She confessed to having fallen under the spell of such British directors as Ken Loach, Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears and Terry Gilliam at an impressionable age. “I don’t think in France we can make those kinds of films,” she told the packed house at the town’s Debussy Theatre in the Palais des Arts. She has described British cinema as a half-way house between American and European cinema. “There is such humanity in the kind of social issues tackled by UK filmmakers. It seems to be very lively.”
She needed little incentive take on the role because she became aware of Dinard’s charms when she rented a holiday home a few years ago. She has also presented some of her films as avant-premieres in the town on the Emerald Coast which lies across the Rance estuary from St Malo.
Her jury will view six films in Competition comprising: The Effects of Lying by Isher Sahota; Girl by Adura Onashile; Silent Roar by Johnny Barrington; Silver Haze by Sacha Polak; Scrapper by Charlotte Regan and The Trouble with Jessica by Matt Winn.
Filmmaker Carol Morley receives a special focus around her latest film Typist Artist Pirate King (a portrait of neglected artist Audrey Amiss) and Mark Cousins is accompanying his documentary take on the master of suspense My Name is Alfred Hitchcock.
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Catherine Frot lines up on stage with her Competition jury at the Festival du Cinéma Britannique de Dinard
Photo: Richard Mowe
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