A Cannes Festival without controversy is like a film by the Dardenne brothers shot in Tahiti or Top Gun 3 focusing on microlights: incongruous, unthinkable. This year, it took until the (almost) end of the event for the Croisette to tear itself apart and ignite. In question ? The words of Lola Quivoron, who came to present her first feature film in the Un certain regard section, Rodeo.
As the title suggests, the action is centered on urban rodeos, these figures of style, often on one wheel, practiced at full speed in the middle of town without worrying about safety. A social phenomenon that is growing more and more among young people and that the filmmaker wanted to discover. “The practice is very relayed by the networks as at the time of skateboardingshe explains in an interview with Konbini. It’s a social phenomenon, cross bitumen, bike life. I wondered what the poetry of the practice was.”
But it goes much further, attacking the police. “The accidents, they are often caused by the cops who chase and who create a form of precariousness which suddenly pushes the riders towards death in fact concretely“.
Words that pass cause a huge reaction. According to the French Interior Ministry, these rodeos have increased by 1,400% in France since 2018. The mayor of Cannes, David Lisnar, was quick to react: “We were not convinced by the words of the lady, which resembles a sketch of the Unknowns. We will continue to prosecute and arrest the perpetrators of urban rodeos. Our tribute yesterday to her work…“
Internet users also went wild, recalling in particular that last Sunday, a 5-year-old child was knocked down in Pantin by four bikers who were practicing an urban rodeo. Many are indignant that the freedom of motorcyclists is given precedence over the safety of passers-by. Others, on the other hand, take a position in favor of the director in the name of freedom of expression.
This therefore comes alive on the Croisette and in social networks. It is also that, a festival which does not leave indifferent.