Lyon (AFP)

The American actress Frances McDormand gave Saturday night in Lyon the launch of the 11th Lumière festival, which celebrates its ten years of existence with a major retrospective of the work of cult director Francis Ford Coppola.

"Initially, in the idea of ​​creating this festival, there was one that black and white is not a fake aesthetic.There is always in our approach the idea of ​​making live the cinema" Thierry Frémaux, director of the Lumière Institute, has been organizing since 2009 this event dedicated to the classics of the 7th Art.

"I just spent a wonderful month reviewing the films you will discover, they will brighten your life," said filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, who chairs the Cinémathèque Lyonnaise, before Oscar-winning American actress Frances McDormand declares open the festival of a masterful "open!".

A slew of guests had previously taken place on the red carpet of Lyon's Halle Tony Garnier, including Barbet Schroeder, Xavier Dolan, Lambert Wilson, Luc Dardenne, Tonie Marshall, Hafsia Herzi, Emmanuelle Devos and Jean-Paul Rappeneau. .

A tribute in pictures was given to the career of Frances McDormand, Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, also present, and Daniel Auteuil, who will each give a cinema lesson in front of the Lyonnais spectators until the closing of the festival, the October 20th.

"The advantage of age is to have the opportunity to tell a story and tonight, to share it with all the huge actors here, and to think that this passage was not useless", confessed Daniel Auteuil in front of the 5,000 spectators of the room.

The opening ceremony was followed by the projection, in the presence of the film crew, of "La belle epoque", the second feature film by Nicolas Bedos which staged a Daniel Auteuil disillusioned sexagenarian, back in the spent to find a love of youth.

As for Francis Ford Coppola, he is expected next Friday to give a masterclass and receive the Prix Lumière. He succeeds American actress Jane Fonda.

Launched in 2009 by the Lumière Institute in the Lyon district, where the cinematograph was invented in 1895 and shot "La sortie du usine Lumière", the first film in history, the Lumière festival is spread across all cinemas. of cinema of the Lyon conurbation.

In total, 185,000 festival-goers had attended in 2018 its 10th edition.

© 2019 AFP