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2009
The guests who joined us during the festival to share their passion for the French cinema and answered questions about the film they represented.

Sophie Marceau, actress | Jean-Michel Ribes, director

Christophe Lambert, actor I Christian Bujeau, actor, stage director

Sophie Marceau, Actress Lol (Laughing Out Loud)® / Les Femmes de l'Ombre
Sophie Marceau is an icon of french cinema who has won international acclaim. She began her film career at the age of 13 when she was selected from 1000 candidates to star in the box-office hit "la boum" in 1980.3 years later, she received the cesar award for the best female newcomer in the sequel "la boum 2". Since then, she has stared around in 30 films including :
1984 "Police" director Maurice Pialat
1987 "Chouans" director Philippe de Broca
1988 "Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours" director Andrzej Zulawski
1990 "Pour Sacha" director Alexandre Arcady
1993 "la fille de d'Artagnan" director Bertrand Tavernier
1994 "Par dela les nuages" directors M. Antonioni and W. Wender selected for Venice Fil m Festival
1994 "Braveheart" director Mel Gibson 5 Oscars
1995 "Firelight" director William Nicholson 3 awards at San Sebastian Festival
1996 "Anna Karenine" director Bernard Rose
1999 "the world is not enough" a James Bond film director : Michael Apted
Sophie Marceau also appeared on stage in "Euridice and Pygmalion". Her book "La menteuse" was published in 1996. She made her directing debut with a feature film "Parlez-moi d'amour" in 2001, which received the director's award at the Montreal Film Festival. Most recently, she has directed, written and and acted in "La disparue de Deauville", released in France in May 2007.
Sophie Marceau starred in two feature films the same year "Les femmes de l'ombre" directed by Jean-Paul Salomé and "Don't look back" co-starring with Monica Bellucci, directed by Marina de Van.
In september 2007, she appeared with the Berlin Philarmonic Orchestra receiting the part of Saint Sebastien in Claude Debussy Lle martyre de Saint Sebastien", conducted by Simon Rattle. In 2008 she has acted in three films, the latest one "L'homme de chevet" directed by Alain Monne. "De l'autre côté" directed by Pascale Pouzadoux and "Lol" directed by Liza Azuelos are on screens since the beginnig of 2009.
Mother of two children, she supports a charity and is a god-mother of "Arc-en-Ciel", a French organisation helping sick children to realize their dreams.

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© Brigitte Enguerand

Jean-Michel Ribes, Director Musée Haut, Musée Bas
Dramatic writer and director of theater and film, Jean-Michel Ribes reclaims the imagination and subversive fantasy, pursuing a free and creative career at the edge of genres. He has managed the Théâtre du Rond-Point since 2002 where he defends today’s dramatic writing. He is the author and director of some twenty works, including Les Fraises musclées (1970), Tout contre un petit boi (1976), Théâtre sans animaux (2001, winner of the Molière award for best comic work and best author) and Musée Haut, Musée Bas (2004, nominated for seven Molière awards , Micha Lescot taking the award for theatrical revelation).
In 2008 Ribes directed Batailles (which he co-wrote with Roland Topor) and in 2009 Un garçon impossible by Norwegian author Petter S. Rosenlund. He has written and directed numerous made-for-TV movies as well as two cult series Merci Bernard (1982-1984) and Palace (1988 – present).
For film he wrote and directed Rien ne va plus (1978), La Galette du Roi (1986), Chacun pour toi (1993), and Musée Haut, Musée Bas (2008). At the request of Alain Resnais, he adapted Private Fears in Public Places, a work by Alan Ackybourn which later became the film Cœurs, selected by the Venice Festival in 2006. He envisioned Le Rire de résistance (November 2007), a catalogue-manifesto, 320 pages of insolence, frivolity and liberty, in order to salute those who, from Diogène to Charlie Hebdo, have resisted the powers that be with laughter. Under the publishing house Actes Sud, he released an almanac Mois par moi (October 2008) as well as a photographic work entitled Voyages hors de soi, rapporté de ses séjours en Asie (March 2009).
Ribes received the grand prize for black humor in 1995, the Molière for best Francophone author, the Prix Plaisir du Théâtre in 2001 and the grand prize of theater from the French Academy for his collection of works. In April 2007, he was named Knight of the Legion of Honor.

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Christophe Lambert, Actor
An American-born French actor, Christophe Lambert is born, in Great Neck, New York.where his father was a French diplomat in the United Nations. When he was 16. Lambert was accepted to the acting program at the Paris Conservatoire. His feature acting debut was in the 1980 film Le Bar du téléphone (The Telephone Bar).
After a few small parts in French films, he successfully competed for the title role in Warner Bros.’ Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes in 1984. His co-stars included Ian Holm, James Fox and Ralph Richardson. The movie was popular with Tarzan buffs for remaining faithful to Edgar Rice Burroughs' original story, and made Christophe Lambert an instant international star. Two years later, Lambert brought to the screen 'Gregory Widen's' legendary Connor MacLeod, the immortal Highlander (1986), born in the Highlands of Scotland in 1518 and carrying over into the futuristic Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) and Highlander III: The Final dimension (1994). In France, Lambert got a César for Best Actor in 1986 for his role in Subway, directed by Luc Besson.
He has worked with Marco Ferreri, Elie Chouraqui, Claire Devers, and Michael Cimino. In recent years he has become a producer while continuing to act in mostly action/adventure films.
A workaholic, Christophe Lambert is continuously on the go, between France and the United States, navigating from science-fiction (Fortress, Beowolf) to historical movie (Vercingétorix), and comedy (Hercule et Sherlock, Artlette).
Recently, he has produced several films in France (Génial, mes parents divorcent, Neuf mois, N’oublie pas que tu vas mourir...) and has come back on screen with the title role in Le Lièvre de Vatanen (2006) and in Sophie Marceau’s thriller La Disparue de Deauville (2007).

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Christian Bujeau: Actor, Stage director
Christian Bujeau is primarily a stage actor. During his classical training in Drama, he was the recipient of an award at the Conservatoire National Superieur d’Art dramatique de Paris and a fellowship at the well-known “Compagnie Renaud-Barrault”. Following his training, he pursued a career in comedy, appearing in over 100 plays, with a particular penchant for Feydeau’s work. Christian has also appeared in 40 films, including the cult French film released in 1993 and directed by Jean-Marie Poiré, “Les Visiteurs”, where he played the role of the dentist. He regularly appears on television shows, and most recently was featured in the popular series produced by Alexandre Astier, “Kaamelott”, a modern account of the Graal quest, where he plays the fencing master. Alongside his acting pursuits, Bujeau is also a stage director for mostly Feydeau works and a long time teacher at the Cours Perimony, the oldest private school of Theater in Paris.

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