PostedMay 12, 2022, 6:24 AM
The farmer from Tarn (F) accepted that Jean-Pierre Améris tells his unusual story: that of the creation of a cabaret on the farm.
David Caumette is a big fellow with laughing eyes and a communicative good humor that is impossible not to appreciate. This 39-year-old farmer living in the village of Garrigues, not far from Toulouse, is the one whose somewhat crazy project – to create a cabaret on his farm to save his farm from bankruptcy – is told in “Les folies fermières”, a film by Jean-Pierre Améris.
David Caumette’s bet was daring, but he won it in 2017. The writing of a book followed and the proposals for adaptation on the big screen as well. “We received eight, but at the Folies fermières, we only keep the best”, laughs the Frenchman who came to promote the film in Lausanne on May 6, 2022. And if it’s Jean-Pierre Améris (“Les émotifs anonymous”, “I’m better”, “A family for rent”) that he trusted, it was because the director came to spend a day on his farm. “With the others, it was by videoconference or by telephone,” he recalls.
The role of David is embodied by Alban Ivanov, a choice which completely seduced the one who defines himself as an “artist-peasant”: “He is a very great humorist who fills entire rooms. In this film, we discover a slightly shy, introverted side to him, but he retains his quality as a comedian. This allows the serious problems of agriculture – suicide, isolation, disregard by the general public – to be treated with a touch of humor.”
Thanks to the “Folies fermières” (which is also the name of his cabaret) and the promotional tour he started in the company of Jean-Pierre Améris, the peasant began to have a small notoriety. “In a cinema not far from my home, a little granny came up to me to get me to sign an autograph behind a photo. For a farmer it’s very special, but I lend myself to the game,” he confides, never losing his smile.
Director Jean-Pierre Améris talking about the film.
Sabrina Ouazani (left) and Bérengère Krief
Caroline Bottaro
Directed by Jean-Pierre Améris
With Alban Ivanov, Sabrina Ouazani, Michèle Bernier, Bérengère Krief, Guy Marchand
From May 11, 2022 at the cinema.