The Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, at the bedside of a binary and tired world, in search of healing

Hey, a thriller about the behind-the-scenes process of the appointment of a prime minister in France? "The film is produced by François Bayrou, and we hope to have your vote of confidence!" said actor Jean Chevalier of the Comédie-Française, just before the screening of Son of, by Carlos Abascal Peiro, in which the thirty-year-old plays the title role. The scene took place on August 27, during the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, which runs until Saturday, August 30. Son of was presented as a preview there, before its theatrical release on Wednesday, September 3.

This frenetic work, with François Cluzet in the role of a potential prime minister, judged too far to the left in the markets, tells with humor and noise a disoriented, poisonous political class. One could not find a better barometer of the start of the school year when the current tenant of Matignon has put his position at risk with a vote of confidence in the National Assembly , scheduled for September 8, against a backdrop of sharp disagreements over budgetary decisions.

In this atmosphere of institutional instability—not to mention the international context—the event, co-directed by Marie-France Brière and Dominique Besnehard, gave pride of place to works driven by a vital, life-giving impulse. Some films almost acted as family therapy, at the risk of formatting: the screenplay tackles a problem, dissects its ins and outs (for the father, the mother, etc.), before outlining constructive avenues.

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