- Director of Les Misérables , in the running for the Césars this Friday evening, Ladj Ly grew up and filmed in Montfermeil.
- The town of Seine-Saint-Denis, with its neighbor Clichy-sous-Bois, is distinguished by an important cultural ecosystem which is constantly developing.
- Around Ateliers Médicis, one of the most ambitious cultural projects in Ile-de-France, several initiatives are flourishing, such as the Fashion and Creations fashion show.
Nominated for the César in a series of categories, the film Les Misérables will once again shine the spotlight on Montfermeil. Since the Jury Prize awarded to Cannes last spring for the film by Ladj Ly, the town of Seine-Saint-Denis has been a regular at projos. In early 2020, Merveilles à Montfermeil , a film by Jeanne Balibar, was also released, while in early February the series Le Monde de demain on the history of hip-hop in Paris cast its main actors in the city.
Beyond cinema, "it is a kind of cultural ecosystem that has been created and that we are trying to maintain," says Xavier Lemoine, mayor (PCD) of Montfermeil. “After the riots in 2005, he continues, our conviction, in Montfermeil as in Clichy-sous-Bois, was that it was through culture that we could get out, that we could reconcile our cities with themselves and that we could change the image of our cities. Culture has been put forward in all of our public policies until it succeeds in convincing the State to install the Ateliers Médicis. "
Both an emblematic project and an old mayor's snake, the Ateliers Médicis were born after the 2005 riots from an idea by journalist Jérôme Bouvier who was inspired by the prestigious Villa Médicis in Rome. For a time, there was talk of installing them in the Utrillo tower, an office building desperately empty and finally destroyed at the end of 2017. But finally, “a year and a half ago, an ephemeral building was opened which foreshadows the final building which will be built in 2025 in place of the Utrillo tower, on the Clichy / Montfermeil border, ”explains Cathy Bouvard, director general of Ateliers Médicis since September 2018.
"There are artist residencies throughout the territory of Clichy-Montfermeil and Seine-Saint-Denis," she adds, "which represents around forty teams per year from all disciplines. Here, we put artists in touch with the locals, in order to see how an artist is transformed by a territory and vice versa. For example, the plastic designer Feda Wardak is installing a wooden platform 4 m high in the Bondy forest to accommodate choreographies, conferences, etc. in the summer. "There is also a whole component called the campus, which is the idea of raising voices, of creating a new pool of artists from these territories," adds Cathy Bouvard. For example, we gave Ladj Ly a boost for the creation of his school, which we hosted and funded. "
Sonia Rolland's masterclasses
Alongside the Ateliers Médicis, Xavier Lemoine highlights “the Sound and Lights of Montfermeil, active for 25 years” and “the Culture and Creations fashion show which brings together a thousand spectators in the Colette-Besson gymnasium”. Launched in 2005, the parade, which will be held this Saturday, highlights amateur designers and has been sponsored for ten years by LVMH. "We support this very humanly strong event because it is a vector of social cohesion and highlights the excellence, beauty, creativity and not the stereotypes that we sometimes hear on Clichy-sous-Bois and Montfermeil, explains Olivier Théophile , social responsibility director of the luxury group. It is a very complete sponsorship which goes from the donation of fabric to allow to realize the creations, to the masterclasses with dressmakers of our houses, through courses with Sonia Rolland to learn to parade because all the models are amateurs. "
The parade offers both creations from traditional clothes from the different communities of Montfermeil and creations inspired this year by the theme of storytelling. A jury of professionals presents three prizes including the “young talent CSR LVMH”. The winner is then "accompanied for six months to allow him to participate in a professional fair in Berlin in which he can put together a small collection, explains Olivier Théophile. The idea is to allow him to professionalize himself in the field of fashion and sewing. "
"We leave youth fallow"
"These are very strong moments when the Montfermeillois are actors", judges the mayor who ensures: "Culture, I put it on all floors. I consider that culture is the keystone of all sectoral policies that can be implemented. This assertion is firmly contested by Dominique Dellac, departmental councilor and head of the list of the left at the municipal level. “In Montfermeil, if things are moving, it is certainly not thanks to Xavier Lemoine. Youth are left fallow, and that is what I particularly regret, ”attacks the woman who accuses the town hall of refusing all subsidies to her association Montfermeil Clichy Culture. “There is no support for creation, and for example, the Kourtrajmé film school in Ladj is a private initiative supported by Ateliers Médicis, and not by the town hall. "
Our file on the Caesar
"There is a strong political will on this territory to finally transform it," concludes Cathy Bouvard. Ultimately, I want Clichy-Montfermeil not to be a territory we talk about but where we talk about. For the director of Ateliers Médicis, it is obvious that something is happening at the cultural level in Clichy-Montfermeil. “Ladj Ly's film created a very strong dynamic, lots of things are developing, it's hopeful anyway. "
Paris
"Les Miserables" at the Oscars: The film "launched a positive dynamic" at Montfermeil
Cinema
César 2020: 12 nominations for “J'accuse” by Roman Polanski, 11 for “Les Misérables”
- Cinema
- LVMH
- Montfermeil
- Caesar 2020
- Paris