“I love this ability that you French people have to spontaneously applaud in rhythm!” At this moment of the ceremony, Monia Chokri does not yet know that many other rhythmic applause will be reserved for her. The few days that the romantic film festival of Cabourg will have lasted end, Saturday, June 17, in the hall of the grand hotel, where Marcel Proust had his habits. At the end of a ceremony which consecrated romantic films released in theaters over the past year and those to come – some of which have already been presented at the Cannes Film Festival – the Canadian director won the Grand Jury Prize and the prize awarded by the young jury.
The official competition jury, chaired by Katell Quillévéré, hailed a selection rich in stories of “couples coming together and coming apart”. The director was also enthusiastic about “all the powerful female characters”, which she had seen in the feature films presented. The jury’s heart finally wavered for Simple comme Sylvain, Monia Chokri’s third feature film.
In this comedy full of self-mockery, the director stages a romance between Sophia, a philosophy professor, and Sylvain, a contractor responsible for renovating the chalet she has just bought with her companion. So many archetypes, those of the bourgeois in search of thrills and the uneducated but very handsome man, whom Monia Chokri, in her forties, questions with burlesque humour. The film, which had already won over critics when it was presented in the Un certain regard category at Cannes, also had the rise of the young jury, made up entirely of high school students. It will be released in theaters on November 8.
In addition to the jury, the festival awarded a public prize – after a vote at each screening release – to Marguerite’s Theorem. In this film, director Anna Novion stages a romance against a backdrop of mathematics. Other Swann – name of the awards given to Cabourg – have been awarded for feature films already released last year in France. Director Rebecca Zlotowski was thus awarded the prize for best director for The Children of Others, while Louis Garrel and Noémie Merlant were respectively awarded Best Actor and Actress for their role in The Innocent.
The jury also awarded a prize to the young actors. It was Nadia Tereszkiewicz, already crowned best female hope at the Cesar ceremony, who was rewarded for her role as Stella, in Les Amandiers by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi. Among the men, it was Raphaël Quenard, whose performance in Chien de la casse by Jean-Baptiste Durand had made an impression, who received a prize. The same feature film was crowned best first film by the jury.
The festival also awarded the Swann d’or for best film to Bleu du caftan by Maryam Touzani. Earlier in the weekend, it was actor Jean Reno who was rewarded for his entire career.
