Cédric KAHN is no child of the ball, admitting that he only became a cinephile late in life and that making films was never a matter of course for him.
Which doesn't stop him from being particularly happy to be in the business. Rather than talking about technique, the filmmaker spoke generously about his career, his doubts, his downtime between films. He knows that the filmmaker's status is fragile, and thinks that's part of the job. To seek guaranteed employment would even be heresy. KAHN asserts that the writing is where the film begins, and that it's a crucial step. As far as the themes of his films are concerned, KAHN knows that he has been pigeonholed as an auteur filmmaker with something to say about the way society works. His attempt to open up to a more popular cinema, with The Plane, ended in failure. Whereas A better life, the film screened yesterday, was a great success. It's true that Guillaume CANET in the lead role. In the final analysis, KAHN claims the utmost freedom with regard to both his art and his life. That's why he doesn't see himself doing television (he worked for Arte, which was different) or working with an American Major (the shooting conditions for the last part ofA Better Life in Canada were epic).
