On the last day of the Cannes competition, this Friday May 26, the festival closed with the preview of the film « L’Abbé Pierre, une vie de combat » by Frédéric Tellier, screened out of competition, which will be released in theaters on November 15.
Benjamin Lavernhe brings to life the life and biography of Abbé Pierre, the founder of Emmaus, the priest who died in 2007 at the age of 94 is the hero of a film by Frédéric Tellier.
In 1989, Abbé Pierre came to the Croisette in person for the presentation of the film « Winter 54 » by Christian Amar, in which he is played by Lambert Wilson.
The film retraces the life, from his 20s until his death, of the man who was born Henri Grouès. It tells how this young man from a bourgeois Lyon family was ordained a priest shortly before the Second World War, joined the Resistance, was elected deputy, then created the Emmaüs association to fight against poverty and exclusion.
His post-war commitment to help the poor, the poorly housed becomes the fight of his life. He raised funds and created Emmaüs in 1949, which is now present in more than forty-one countries to overcome exclusion.
The Abbé Pierre Foundation is delighted with the choice of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival to include the biopic L’Abbé Pierre, une vie de combats in its Official Selection, Out of Competition.
Its director Frédéric Tellier, its actor Benjamin Lavernhe and Laurent Desmard, the former private secretary of the founder of Emmaüs, tell us about their pride in supporting this film which will be released in theaters in November.
« We are happy to have been associated by the director Frédéric Tellier in his reflection to show with the greatest possible veracity who was Abbé Pierre », explains Laurent Desmard.
“The film also has the quality of highlighting Abbe Pierre’s fight, which he led and which the Abbé Pierre Foundation pursues relentlessly, because we still have more than 4 million people who are not or poorly housed in France. It also has the virtue of bringing to the screen a character who can embody for those who discover him as well as for those who will remember him as an ordinary hero carrying the idea that a more fraternal society is possible. he continues.
A particularly significant role for Benjamin Lavernhe, one of the most requested actors in French cinema, who says he has « fallen in love » with the character: « He is a revolutionary, a man on the move who leads crowds ».
The doubts and wounds of the former resistance fighter, who has become a media star, the idea was to make « a great adventure film on the history of France and the very intimate portrait of a guy that the French do not know really », adds Benjamin Lavernhe.
We salute the brilliant interpretation of actor Benjamin Lavernhe, the talent and the involvement with which he was able to translate the life of the one who wanted the French to have a decent life and a house in good condition.
« The Abbé Pierre, a life of combat » 2 h 18. Theatrical release on November 15.
Copyright ©2023 IMPACT EUROPEAN
Copyright ©2023 IMPACT EUROPEAN
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