The Safe House / La cache + Q&A with film director Lionel Baier
Sat 08 NovUK Premiere with filmmaker Lionel Baier
It’s Paris, May 1968. A nine-year-old boy is thrilled to be staying with his grandparents. They are joined by two fun-loving uncles –a visual artist and an aspiring intellectual – and by the boy’s flamboyant great-grandmother from Odessa. The boy (spiritedly played by Ethan Chimienti) spends several days in the apartment while his parents take part in the historic student protests. As the country is turned upside down, the Jewish family is forced to confront its own past when an illustrious guest seeks refuge in their hideout. His presence sparks new revelations and reflections on the family’s history. Lionel Baier’s buoyant comedy is based on the novel which Christophe Boltanski, nephew of the renowned visual artist Christian Boltanski, wrote about his family. Sadly it marks the last screen appearance by Michel Blanc who died earlier this year.
“A playful and joyous experiment.” Cineuropa
Screenwriter and director Lionel Baier hails from Lausanne where he headed the cinema department at the ECAL (École cantonale d'art de Lausanne). With fellow directors Ursula Meier, Frédéric Mermoud and Stéphane Bron he co-founded Bande à Part films in 2009. He is known for the awardwinning
Longwave (2013), which became a festival hit and was honoured with the Trophée Francophone for Best Director. Vanity (2015) was selected for ACID section of the Cannes Film Festival. He is also Vice-President of the Cinémathèque suisse Conseil de fondation and Vice-President of Visions du Réel. The Safe House was premiered earlier this year in the Berlinale International Competition. The organisers of the French Film Festival UK are delighted to welcome him back to Scotland.
