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PostED ON 12.10.2025

A ‘kitchen conversation’ with Bertrand Bonello about his book Bertrand Bonello, Des stratégies obliques, created with Pascale Cassagnau, published by Éditions De l’Incidence. 

How would you describe the book Bertrand Bonello, des stratégies obliques?

It's very hybrid. The idea came from Pascale Cassagnau and her enthusiastic editors. She asked me to comment on 130 words she had chosen. The difficulty with some of the choices was to avoid coming up with grand theoretical concepts or teaching moments, but to keep it very limited. I often say that in cinema, there are dining room conversations and kitchen conversations. Here, I really wanted them to be kitchen conversations. Explaining in concrete terms what you go through when you start a film, how you make it, what the daily challenges are. Nothing to do with big questions like: what is directing? What is cinema ?…

The artistic angle in the book is central for what reason ?

First of all, music is my main profession. I have a musical way of thinking about films. Cinema, which is sound, image and writing, makes us turn toward other arts. I’m inspired by literature. All of this nourishes me. On the other hand, watching other people's films when I'm preparing a film of my own, watching a Lynch or a Scorsese, can overwhelm me, unlike a sentence from a writer or a painting by an artist.

You state what you know, but also what you have yet to discover. Why?

There’s a phrase that I’ve always believed in, which is that a film is the result of what you can and cannot do at any given moment. And it’s this combination of the two that defines the style of the film - a mix of what you succeed at and what you fail at.

Is this hybrid approach perhaps a tool to inspire future filmmakers ?

For a young filmmaker who wants to make a film, this book suggests that you let go of theory and dive into concrete craft. And in the end, answer this question: how did you come to make this film? Because between the initial desire to make a film and the final result, there is a long path to travel. You start out with one intention and end up with something else, and it is that journey that is important. 

Cinema event  

AT THE FESTIVAL VILLAGE Sunday, October 12 at 11 am
With Bertrand Bonello, director

A discussion on his book, Des stratégies obliques (De l’incidence), followed by a book signing session.

> Tickets