Strasbourg (AFP)
Blindfolded journey to the place of projection, path lit by the candle and mournful haze: some 500 fans of chills trembled Thursday evening in Strasbourg during an outdoor screening of the "Blair Witch Project", a classic film theater. 'horror.
20H, bus station of Etoile. Hundreds of spectators are waiting to board one of the five buses chartered by the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival. On the program, an unusual "secret session": the place of projection like the film are unknown to the spectators ...
Amandine Greuez, 27, and William Rowe, 25, wait outside the line. An idea of their destination? "An old haunted hotel!", Smiles the young woman. "Rather a forest or a park, given the indications" of the organizers who advocated warm clothes to support the freshness of the night in Alsace, remarks the young man. The projected film? The cult "Project Blair Witch?" (1999), William Hazard. "I do not know, in any case a classic," says Amandine.
Once on the bus, a night mask is given to them. Strict instructions: wear it as soon as the vehicle starts.
- "Phenomenal" -
Fifteen minutes later, the buses arrive near an eccentric park, along the Rhine.
Night has fallen, spectators are invited to follow a path marked by oil lamps. Loudspeakers spit up disturbing metallic sounds. In the distance there is a haze tinged with blue and red.
At the end of the road, black silhouettes greet moviegoers with guttural screams before giving them a large space where a giant screen and dozens of benches have been erected.
No lighting except candles on the ground and red spots on the trees. At the bottom of the park, a bar and a brazier.
From the outset, the presence of three large wooden structures, evoking objects of witchcraft "Blair Witch", raises all doubts about the mystery film: "you see, I told you!", Slips a young woman to his friend.
"The staging is really interesting, the decor is simple but effective, we are immersed in it," says Clément Ernewein, a 31-year-old Colmarien.
"The mysterious side, it allows to develop the imagination" and "even if we do not know" which film will be screened, "we expect a phenomenal thing," says Mathilde Lepers, 32, also from Colmar .
- "Immersive sessions" -
Launched in 2008, the fantastic film festival of Strasbourg is a master in the organization of these staggered sessions: in 2016, "The teeth of the sea" had been broadcast at the Municipal Baths; in 2017, "Christine", a movie about an evil car, had the honors of a drive-in; and last year, "The Exorcist" had invited himself to a church.
"The idea is to show the cinema differently and allow the public to reclaim places they are not used to," said Daniel Cohen, artistic director of the festival.
"Immersive" sessions now very "expected" by the audience of the festival, rather young: "people really want to see movies otherwise, we must renew the proposals," said Mr. Cohen.
Thursday night, sometimes wrapped in plaids to brave the fall of the mercury and the moisture of the nearby Rhine, the spectators, kidnapped volunteers, thus attend, in the dark and in full nature, to the tortures of three characters prisoners of a haunted forest .
Verdict? "Very good!", Says Catherine Braun, a 27-year-old Strasbourg resident of Andalusia. "I saw the movie for the first time, sure it's a great setting, all the sessions (immersive), like" The Exorcist "in the church, it's great.
© 2019 AFP