59th THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL [1-11/11/2018] || 1-11/11/2018
Screening: Genesis by Philippe Lesage
The Canadian director Philippe Lesage’s film Genesis premiered on Friday 2 November in “Stavros Tornes” theatre, as part of the 59th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The film makes part of “Life Lessons” admission-free tribute, consisting of five films that have their Greek premiere in Thessaloniki and, with education as their common denominator, teach valuable and universal lessons in a non-didactic, yet perfectly meaningful way.
Before the screening, the film director expressed his delight for visiting Greece and the Festival for the first time. He also thanked the audience for being there, and the Festival for having selected his film for screening. As he said, the fact that the film’s participation in “Life Lessons” tribute aroused in him a sense of oxymoron, since he hopes that his works will not be perceived as actual life lessons or behavioral guidelines by the audience. “In my films, I systematically refrain from judging the characters; all I want is to show my own view of reality, through my experiences and connection with other people”, he noted.
A Q&A session followed the screening. Philippe Lesage spoke about the third act, which totally diverges from the first two as to the plot. He explained that he considers this final act as the film’s strongest. At the same time, he is perfectly aware that it is the hardest to deal with, since this act needs the viewer to make a rational -and in a sense poetical- leap. “Having explored the awakening of love in the ages 16-18, I retrace the beginning of everything, the first love chills between two teenagers. I wanted to depict that stage when things are so easy. In that age, the only thing that matters is desire”, he said.
On the film title, he said that apart from the obvious biblical reference (note that the original title in French relates to The Book of Genesis, but also means “birth, nascence” in everyday speech), it is about the beginning, the start, the first moment when we come close to someone else. “It is one of the most meaningful moments in life. Besides, as my fellow countryman Leonard Cohen had said, love is the only engine of survival”, he noted.
The next question was about the period when the plot unfolds, since neither of the two young main characters possesses any kind of cutting-edge technology devices. Philippe Lesage explained that it is on purpose that the time frame remains unspecified, since his wish is to send a universal and timeless message. “I am trying to build a personal universe and specifying time can often prove an obstacle. I mostly wish to prove that no matter how different the lifestyle of the modern generation is, the feeling of love cannot change dramatically. I hope that viewers who share my sensibilities will experience empathy, regardless when and where the film unfolds”, he said.
Concluding, the Canadian film director reminded that the main male character in the third act, young Felix, also had a part in a previous film (that is the 2015 film The Demons), and shared with the audience one of his principal aims as to the depiction of Charlotte, the film’s leading female character. “Talking with women I know, the ones I have been involved with, my friends, and members of my family as well, I realized that almost half of them had been victims of some kind of sexual violence or abuse at some point in their lives. It would be a great delinquency from my part not to speak about how hard it is for a woman to experience the first love chills”.
The “Life Lessons” tribute is implemented through the Operational Program "Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning" and is co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund) and Greek national funds. Its co-funded projects deal with education and employment. Some of its main goals relate to:
This is the third tribute of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival funded by the Operational Program "Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning".
