VILLAGE ENCOUNTERS
New – a dedicated space in the heart of the festival village!
A programme of encounters, discussions, talks and book signings open to all!
Come share your cinema passion with Michel Hazanavicius, Raphaël Quenard, Bertrand Bonello, Jérôme Garcin, Béatrice de Pastre, Olivier Barrot, or authors of books on Apocalypse Now, Andrey Zvyagintsev and more. Sessions are held daily from the mid-morning to the late afternoon.
Sunday 12 October
11am: Meet Bertrand Bonello, director, for a discussion on his book, Des stratégies obliques (De l’incidence), followed by a signing session.
An exploration of the vision of an unclassifiable filmmaker, author of L'Apollonide : Souvenirs de la maison close and Saint Laurent, providing a glimpse into his artistic process via the famous card game of the same name, created by Brian Eno & Peter Schmidt—a ‘working tool’ aimed at stimulating creativity—which Bertrand Bonello used to write his films.
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5pm: Meet Jérôme Garcin, recipient of the Bernard Chardère Prize 2025, followed by a book signing.
Whether on the radio programme Le Masque et la Plume, which he hosted for over forty years, or at the helm of the culture pages of Le Nouvel Obs, Jérôme Garcin has served as a trusted companion of cinephiles for decades. A look back on his prolific career.
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Monday 13 October
11am: Meet Joël Chapron, an expert in Eastern European cinema, for an exclusive presentation of his work, Le cinéma d’Andreï Zviaguintsev (Mimesis), followed by a signing session.
An exceptional encounter with a renowned film authority and specialist in Russian cinema (delving into the unique world of director Andrey Zvyagintsev), he has established himself as a leading voice of Eastern Europe. He is also the author of Leviathan (Best Screenplay Award at Cannes 2014, Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film) and Loveless (Jury Prize at Cannes 2017 and César Award for Best Foreign Film).
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Tuesday 14 October
3pm: Meet Béatrice de Pastre, recipient of the Fabienne Vonier Prize 2025, followed by a book signing.
Béatrice de Pastre is Deputy Director of Heritage at the National Centre for Cinema (CNC). She oversees a grand number of projects, including prestigious restorations, and works alongside the Institut Lumière on the restoration of the heritage of Lumière. She will discuss her work and the considerable role the CNC plays in the preservation and promotion of classic cinema.
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6pm: Meet Michel Hazanavicius, director, for a discussion on his book, Carnets d’Ukraine (Allary), followed by a signing session.
In November of 2023, he left with a paper and a pencil, and returned with these notebooks. Michel Hazanavicius, a major filmmaker, winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture (The Artist), shares his views on history and current events through sensitive interpretations, both written and illustrated.
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Wednesday 15 October
11am: Meet Delphine Valloire, journalist. She will give a talk on her book, Au cœur des ténèbres de Joseph Conrad : histoire d'une adaptation, followed by a signing session of Il était une fois… Apocalypse Now (Rockyrama).
We all ‘love the smell of Napalm in the morning’… From the pages to the screen, a behind-the-scenes look at a masterpiece and the spiralling ordeal of its adaptation, by Delphine Valloire, an expert in monumental œuvres.
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6pm: Meet Nicolas Brevière, producer and director, for a discussion on the cinema of the 1980s, followed by a signing session of Golden Eighties (Carlotta).
Nicolas Brevière takes us to the heart of the 1980s, an overflowing and pivotal decade that shaped the production of French cinema, whose impact still resonates today. He dissects the decade in his indispensable work, Golden Eighties.
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Thursday 16 October
11.30am: Meet Maelle Arnaud, director of programming of the Lumière film festival. She will give a talk on the Martin Ritt retrospective.
Maelle Arnaud provides insightful details of the production of the world’s first-ever retrospective dedicated exclusively to Martin Ritt—a committed and humanist filmmaker—from the restoration of the material to the relationships with the studios...
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6.45pm: Meet Olivier Barrot, recipient of the Raymond Chirat Prize 2025, followed by a signing session.
Olivier Barrot is a journalist, writer and producer, the iconic host of the television show Un livre, un jour on France 3, a leading expert on French cinema and a longtime confidant of Raymond Chirat. He will engage with the audience, reflecting on his career, as well as on Louis Jouvet—the subject of a retrospective at this year’s festival, and whose biography he authored.
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Friday 17 October
2pm: Meet Philippe Rouyer, film critic and historian, for a discussion of cinema review Positif.
With his characteristic passion, Philippe Rouyer will talk about his profession as a film critic and journalist on the radio, on TV, and most notably for the magazine Positif, of which he is one of the longstanding contributors and one of its most emblematic writers. Positif, which has just celebrated its 70th anniversary, is a true reference for cinephiles and is published by the Institut Lumière.
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Saturday 18 October
3pm: Meet Raphaël Quenard, actor, author and director, for a discussion on his book, Clamser à Tataouine (Flammarion).
He is one of the most in-demand movie actors in France, inseparable from Quentin Dupieux's films, and a leading figure in new French cinema. In 2025, he made his first foray into directing (I Love Peru) and published his debut novel, Clamser à Tataouine, which caused quite a commotion in the literary world. He will be present at Lumière to discuss this first work, both unusual and virtuoso.
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6.30pm: Meet Mehdi Omais, film journalist, for a discussion on his book, Le cinéma c’est la vie (Hugo Image), followed by a signing session.
Immersive, comforting, and at times hypnotic — cinema is an antidote to everyday life. Mehdi Omais will join us to share his cinephilia and his favourite uplifting films that make you laugh, think, or simply feel good.
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