>> Director sues Cannes for rejecting his movie
Selon la presse britannique, le réalisateur français Paul Verhoeven a porté plainte contre le Festival de Cannes pour “homophobie”.
Il ne s’agit pas du metteur en scène hollandais de Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct ou Starship Troopers, mais d’un cinéaste français de 73 ans (sa fiche sur IMDb).
Son film “Teenagers” recalé par le jury de sélection du Festival de Cannes, le réalisateur français y voit des “préjugés sexuels”, selon The Guardian.
Dans une vidéo adressée aux juges parisiens, relate encore le sérieux quotidien britannique, Paul Verhoeven explique avoir demandé une explication à la direction du Festival. Et avoir reçu accidentellement un mail faisant référence à un travail
“éthiquement douteux”
Primé aux California Film Awards, le film n’a pas été retenu par le jury de sélection en 2009.
Son réalisateur estime pourtant que son oeuvre participe à “tenir les jeunes éloignés du terrorisme, du suicide, de la délinquance et de l’homophobie”, cite également The Telegraph.
Il espère que le tribunal, qui doit se prononcer le mois prochain, ordonnera l’intégration de “Teenagers” à la sélection de 2015.
>> Parisian director Paul Verhoeven is suing the Cannes film festival, claiming that his 2009 drama Teenagers was not accepted because of sexual prejudice.
The lawsuit is the first ever filed against the festival. The low-budget film, which details the relationship between two teenage boys, was shown at other festivals around the world but it was rejected when submitted to Cannes.
The 73-year-old film-maker, who is no relation to the Dutch director of Basic Instinct, emailed a representative to enquire as to the reasoning and was accidentally copied in on an email which referred to his film as ethically “very doubtful”.
“TEENAGERS” – bande annonce par lucassaid
During a video deposition to judges, Verhoeven stated that the film was potentially important enough to “turn young people away from terrorism, suicide, delinquency and homophobia”. He seeks either the festival being forced to show the film this year or pay for it to be screened in cinemas.
The claims of homophobia against the festival have come as a surprise to many Cannes regulars. Last year, British drama Pride debuted at the festival – and went on to win the coveted Queer Palm – while in 2013 the Palme d’Or was won by Blue is the Warmest Colour.
A spokesman for the festival called the case “absurd” and said that films were rejected or accepted on grounds of quality alone.
The film received scant and poor reviews but did take top prize at the 2011 California film awards.
A ruling is due later this month.
avec nicematin.com
