Institut Audiovisuel celebrates power of cinema: new season questions how we look at things
Julianne Moore in Far from Heaven, which is being screened during Les Mardis du Cinéma © IAM
At the IAM, the great classics rub shoulders with contemporary cinema. An opportunity to be surprised but never disappointed.
Appearances can be deceptive. The Institut Audiovisuel de Monaco is launching a new film season on the theme of “La Traversée des Apparences”, (crossing over appearances) a tribute to the art of cinema that questions the boundaries between what is real and what appears to be.
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Through a rich programme, the IAM invites spectators to step over the boundaries of what is visible to question perception, image and “what the filmmaker wants to say about human nature,” explains Vincent Vatrican, director of the IAM.
Tuesday night is movie night…
Les Mardis du Cinéma is a weekly event, now held at 7pm instead of 8pm in previous years. The season opens with a diverse selection of films that question the power of appearances and the way in which cinema plays with reality.
Among the selected works is Blow-Up by Michelangelo Antonioni, a cult film in which a fashion photographer discovers what may be proof of a crime in the background of his shots. This 60s classic questions the reliability of perception and, above all, of images.
The programme also includes Ernst Lubitsch’s Ninotchka , a 1939 comedy-drama starring Greta Garbo, in which the icy exterior of a Soviet commissar is gradually thawed by love and Parisian life.
Another interesting landmark film is Claude Chabrol’s Les Bonnes Femmes, a cynical portrait of young Parisian shop assistants looking for love and a better life, but caught up in the deceptive appearances of their daily lives. According to Vincent Vatrican, the film is still relevant today, especially in the age of #metoo: “You absolutely have to see this film again!”
It is the Iranian film Close-Up by Abbas Kiarostami that, according to the Institut’s director, “best sums up the theme.” It offers a mise en abyme of cinema itself by telling the story of a man posing as a famous director. The film blurs the lines between documentary and fiction, revealing the complex interplay of appearances and the power of images. “A dizzying film about the power of cinema,” says Vincent Vatrican.
Special screenings: high points of the season
As well as the Mardis du Cinéma, the Institut Audiovisuel is organising Projections Spéciales (Special Screenings) in partnership with bodies in the Principality and elsewhere.
A must-see screening is Chantal Akerman’s Les Rendez-vous d’Anna (Meetings with Anna), in partnership with the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique (Belgium’s Royal Cinema Film Library). The film, made by one of the most important figures in modern cinema, has been restored to celebrate Akerman’s legacy.
The Secret of Kells is an animated film that tells the story of a young Irish monk who is tasked with completing the 9th century illuminated manuscript. It will be presented by Jean-Paul Commin, a great animated film promoter, in the presence of the film-maker.
The Projections Spéciales programme also includes Max et Jérémie, a crime thriller directed by Claire Devers, presented as part of the Monaco en film label, which each year highlights films with a direct link to the Principality, whether through the script or the cinematography. The film, which follows the encounter between a veteran hitman and a young trainee, ends with a climax… in Monaco.
Film buffs will also be able to attend a “film lesson” by actress and director Noémie Lvovsky, in partnership with the Fondation Prince Pierre. Director and actress Lvovsky will share her perspective on the profession, her artistic choices, her inspirations and her working methods.
For more details and the full programme: Institut Audiovisuel de Monaco