San Sebastian (Spain) (AFP)

The American filmmaker Woody Allen starts this week in San Sebastian filming his new film, a tribute to the cinema, far from accusations of sexual abuse of his adopted daughter.

"My philosophy has always been to stay focused on work and to continue working, no matter what happens in life, with family, children, news, politics ...", he said. said Tuesday to the press on the eve of the start of shooting in the northern city of Spain.

"I do not think about political or social movements, I'm not mentally armed for that, I do not have a deep look at these things, I'm mainly interested in human relations and people," he added. 83-year-old director questioned about the #MeToo move that made the accusations of his adopted daughter resurface.

The New York filmmaker, who has more than 50 films to his credit, has always categorically denied the accusations of Dylan Farrow, who says he abused her in 1992 when she was seven years old.

The lawsuit against Woody Allen was dropped after two separate investigations lasting several months.

But Dylan Farrow, backed by her adoptive mother Mia Farrow and her brother Ronan, renewed her accusations in full wave of #MeToo in early 2018.

The affair tarnished the director's image, causing several actors and actresses who worked with him to distance themselves.

The giant Amazon has also broken a lucrative contract for the production and distribution of four films, which Woody Allen challenged in court in a proceeding still in progress.

His feature film "A Rainy Day in New York", which was part of this agreement, was not released in theaters in the United States because of the dispute, but should be released soon in European countries.

- "Tribute to great filmmakers" -

With this new film, which will be shot until August 20 in the Basque city, the four-time Oscar-winning New Yorker intends to move away from this difficult context.

Planned for the next year, it will be a romantic comedy with a backdrop of the San Sebastian film festival, he explained.

Featuring Christoph Waltz, Wally Shawn, Gina Gershon, Elena Anaya and Sergi Lopez, it will be "a great tribute to the great directors and great films that have emerged throughout the history of film festivals", he promised.

The presentation, Tuesday, was also held in the Kursaal, a palace where the annual San Sebastian Festival, a major event in the Spanish-speaking world, takes place every year. The director of "Manhattan" and "Match Point" had received in 2004 an honorary award for his entire career.

According to Woody Allen, festivals "always pay tribute to special filmmakers, who saw cinema as an art form" so "that today they worry too much about the stars, advertising and commercial aspects of movies ".

For the time without a title, this film will be a new manifestation of his passion for Europe, where he usually has more success than in his native country.

"I hope, with optimism, that my relationship with the European public will continue and that they will continue to be entertained," he said.

The film, which will not miss the postcard landscapes of San Sebastian like the beach of La Concha, is produced by the Spanish group Mediapro who had already financed "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008) and "Midnight in Paris" (2011 ).

Mediapro President Jaume Roures said he was not there to "save" the career of Woody Allen, who had trouble finding funding in the United States. "We are a drop in its ocean of creativity, talent and cinema (...) We do not save the lives of geniuses, geniuses build themselves," said Roures.

? 2019 AFP