Cannes: Xavier Dolan judge the movies with his heart – BBC

In an exclusive interview with Radio-Canada, Quebec filmmaker aged 26 tells his joy to join the jury of the Coen brothers on the Croisette.

A year after being crowned on the Croisette with his film Mommy (Jury Prize 2014, tied with Farewell to Language, John -Luke Godard), the young Xavier Dolan now happening on the other side of the mirror as it integrates the jury of the 68th Cannes Film Festival chaired by the Coen brothers. From its 26 years, the youngest jurors spoke Tuesday night in an interview via Skype granted to the TV channel CBC.

“This is an offer of a certain prestige,” admits the filmmaker who “could not refuse” the latter despite a busy schedule – he is currently preparing his sixth feature film with Jessica Chastain, Kit Harington and Susan Sarandon. The Quebec director was aware of the news for a while. “The Festival usually do not call this meeting of people who were selecting the year before, we wait two or three years, says Xavier Dolan. But the situation seemed to be good. I’m delighted. ”

This will be the fifth passage in Cannes director who presented his first film, I Killed My Mother in 2009 at the Directors’ Fortnight and The Heartbeats in 2010 and Laurence Anyways in 2012 in Un certain regard.

In addition to Joel and Ethan Coen, Dolan will review the films in competition alongside big names in international cinema, like Guillermo del Toro, Sienna Miller, Rossy de Palma, the French Sophie Marceau or Sienna Miller. How does it apprehends the young director such a task? Naturally. “I want to try the movies with my heart, without a priori, without prejudice, without bias,” he answers the journalist for Radio-Canada. “The conversation with members of the Jury will be extremely interesting. We have a preconceived idea of ​​these people based on their work, but a juror of the festival is not only an artistic exercise is a human exercise. “

Xavier Dolan going However, judging -it Sicario , signed his Canadian colleague differently from other competitors? The filmmaker said he did not want to consider a feature film based on his or her casting director five stars. “Because I love Denis [Villeneuve] as I like a friend or someone else, I would be quite incapable of lying over his work. If I do not like his film, I do not like his film, “says the young film prodigy.