Kristen Stewart
On Tuesday evening, it was as sweltering on the Basque coast as it was in heatwave-struck Paris, but that didn’t stop a throng of people from braving the temperatures to see the constellation of stars who converged at the opening of the fourth annual Biarritz Film Festival-Nouvelles Vagues.
Founded to support and spotlight young talent in the industry, Nouvelles Vagues is now gaining serious traction. Case in point: attendees included both heavyweight talent—think: Kristen Stewart, Marion Cotillard, and Isabelle Huppert—as well as a gaggle of faces to watch, such as Ishaan Khatter, Vassili Schneider, Whitney Peak, Raphaël Quenard, Milo Machado-
Graner, Jane Beever, and Suzy Bemba
This edition features a stacked lineup of 52 films, with an expected 20,000 visitors descending on Biarritz through Sunday. Made possible thanks to the support of Biarritz City Hall and Chanel, plus a slate of more than 55 corporate sponsors, this year’s program breaks new ground, too, with an expanded showcase for eight international films by young directors already spotted at major festivals, plus a short film competition for directors under the age of 35.
At the opening ceremony, emceed by actress Ana Girardot, Huppert was presented with not one accolade but two: the first was an honorary prize from Nouvelles Vagues in recognition of her five-decade long career, while the second, a digital award from the National Audiovisual Institute, saw an iPad loaded with all 320 hours of her film work.
The evening got off to a rollicking start as Cotillard, wearing a gown from the recent Métiers d’Art collection, introduced Huppert as “the queen of the dance floor, a karaoke bomb, and a punk—I’m telling you, she is one of the most badass women I know.”
As president of this year’s jury, Stewart, who wore an Art Deco-era-inspired garçonne look
from the Cruise collection, opened the festival in her own inimitable style. In other words, a yelp
and an array of expletives. “I’m really sorry for my Américain,” she jokingly told the crowd, before toning it down. “I just want to say that I am so absolutely enlivened by the idea that you don’t have to be a wise, learned person to make a film. In fact, we’re always trying to get back to who we were when we were yay-high. I think we should make movies about the things that we want, but we live in a world where it’s hard to figure that out.”
That energy reverberated through the evening as VIPs gathered for Champagne, cocktails, and an oceanside dinner party at the Hôtel du Palais. “Nouvelles Vagues is all about candor, youth, freedom, and the new generation,” noted the festival’s president and co-founder, Jérôme Pulis-Etchevers. “Here in Biarritz, we’re a little bit like the California of France. We do whatever we want and there are no rules.”
“[In Biarritz] there’s this vibrant, fierce energy, and at the same time, there is still so much to discover,” Cotillard offered. “I find that mix very powerful.” The Oscar-winning actress, who has a trio of films releasing in the months ahead including Karma by Guillaume Canet, Roma Elastica by Bertrand Mandico, and Milo by Nicole Garcia, likened the festival’s personality to the spirit embodied by a young Alice Guy-Blaché. As the world’s first female director, Guy-Blaché went on to make more than 1,000 films. “A born artist will always find a way to express themselves,” Cotillard said. “Even when you think you don’t have the means—and I’m not just saying financially—if that visceral, vital need is there, it will happen.”
For Chanel, helping creatives make their mark is a continuation of a storyline that permeates the house, said Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel’s fashion activities. The arc began in 1915, when Gabrielle Chanel established her first haute couture boutique, atelier, and residence in the Villa de Larralde in the coastal city. In recent years, the connection has strengthened via the festival and Matthieu Blazy’s debut Cruise collection in April.
“I believe in the magic of places,” Blazy said. “We came back to Biarritz to support cinema because it’s something that’s close to our hearts, and it’s very important. But it’s not cinema for cinema’s sake; above all it’s about creativity. And creativity is embodied through many things, including film, dance, literature and, obviously, fashion.”
In addition to supporting the festival’s bookend films —Adieu Monde Cruel by Félix de Givry on opening night, and a documentary about Jean Cocteau by Lisa Immordino Vreeland to close out the week—Chanel, through its in-house artisans at Desrues, also produced the winners’ trophies
As to whether the house might venture further into film on its own terms, Pavlovsky was measured. “Our job isn’t to do things in others’ place,” he replied. “Our job is to help those who are doing something well, to do it even better.”
Marion Cottilard
Whitney Peak
Isabelle Huppert
Lou Lampros
Photo: Olivier Vigerie
Bruno Pavlovsky, Kristen Stewart, Jérôme Pulis-Etchevers
Suzy Bemba
Ana Girardot
Jane Beever
Photo: Olivier Vigerie
Vassili Schneider
Photo: Olivier Vigerie
Photo: Olivier Vigerie
Isabelle Huppert
Kristen Stewart
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