Small Bulletin Lyon - Cinema Lyon: Cannes 2018 - Michel Saint -Jean: The height of politics - article published by Vincent Raymond<

Even if nothing ever comes to bring its prestige, rumor claims that its brilliance fades over time.It is a chemical fact: oxidation is the worst enemy of César.The one discreetly decorating Michel Saint-Jean's office has in fact won his weight of patina.No doubt it is the statuette won in 1999 with the dreamed life of the angels;Its little one conquered in 2009 for Séraphine remaining with its producers.A trophy for the best film every year in 9, as if to celebrate every new decade of its Diaphana company founded in 1989 the distributor can receive wood for 2019.

And why not from 2018 thanks to at war, the new success of Stéphane Brizé?This "fight for dignity and justice going beyond the photography of relocation", is in line with the nearly 350 films which he has worn on the screens since his beginnings, where we meet theLucas Belvaux of the brilliant trilogy or the reason of the weakest, almost all Robert Guédiguian, the Dardenne, Ken Loach or Manuel Poirier.

Pour autant, Michel Saint-Jean ne revendique pas une ligne éditoriale à l'inflexibilité d'airain : « j'adore tous les cinémas !»» Un rapide survol de sa filmographie le confirme : n'a-t-il pas sorti Braindead (1992) du Peter Jackson période gore ; n'a-t-il pas accompagné l'émergence d'un nouveau cinéma d'animation en important Wallace & Gromit, puis en distribuant Les Triplettes de Belleville ou Persepolis ?

Saint-Étienne, Saint-François, Saint-Jean

Its vocation was born thanks to the most traditional animations, during a Dumbo session the flying elephant in the anabel cinema in Saint-Étienne;He is then 10 or 11 years old.

The young Michel then begins to devour from the film.Student, he became a faithful of the international meetings of Saint-Etienne: “There were up to 300 projected films, previews, meetings with Truffaut or Mastroianni in eight days, I saw nearly 50 films.His diligence earned him to be noticed by the creator of the event, the distributor and producer Nella Banfi.And convinces him that the best way to satisfy his passion is to work in a cinema.

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He therefore offers his services to France (the current Méliès Saint-François) and starts at the bottom of the scale: cashier, cleaningman, he passed his projectionist "we still projected flame copies at the time"And ends up directing the room.It was then that the national service tires of its requests for incorporation of incorporation.For this convinced antimilitarist, out of the question of being touched.The relaxation of the regime of consciousness objectors fortunately authorizes him to carry out his civil service within an association.Why not try your luck at the Lumière Institute in Lyon?"Bernard Chardère was kind enough to welcome me and it was 15 magnificent months because I consolidated my filmphilia, I met extraordinary people like Raymond Chirat or Barthélémy Amegual" Michel sympathizes also with a young volunteer from hisAge, a certain Thierry Frémaux, future boss of the Institute and general delegate of La Croisette.Both have never cut the bridges:

These mozarts which he accompanies

Returned to civilian life, Michel Saint-Jean is more than ever resolved to persevere in the profession.But he wants to go further upstream, at the creative source.The Idhec, ancestor of the FEMIS, did not open its doors to him?Never mind: he multiplies the CVs and contacts Nella Banfi who remembers the Stéphanois film buff.She invites him to win Paris and hiring her as programming manager.His first mission: to distribute the complete Nanni Moretti difficult to do better.He discovers a profession whose specificity still fascinates him: "We are there to accompany the film, enhance it, ensure that it meets a widest audience possible."A profession which he also measures the central but ambiguous position, taken in vice between the exploitation (the rooms) and the production:" they are much more numerous and structured than us who are dreamers, acrobats "

Any acrobat he proclaims, the young man will quickly take his autonomy by creating his own society, diaphana the beauty of the word and the idea of transparency that presided over the choice of name.The beginnings are carried out by many foreign successes, signed in particular Ken Loach (Riff-Raff, Raining Stones, Land and Freedom) or Mark Herman (the virtuosos).When in 1997, two house authors, Guédiguian and Poirier, were dubbed in Cannes for Marius and Jeannette and Western, the benefit in terms of visibility is considerable.

Other young filmmakers emerge in stride, making raids to all the records: Sólveig Anspach (Hauts les C urs!), Dominik Moll (Harry A friend who wants you good), Edward Yang (Yi Yi), PierreSchoeller (the exercise of the state) soon thirty years of activity marked by two fins (the child and the wind gets up), fidelities in the shovel and the pain of the rupture when Loach, after a dozen films, Accepts an offer from why not: "I have no bitterness, no one belongs to anyone, but his last films, I can't see them, it's too hard.We always talk to each other, huh.»»

Michel Saint-Jean had to invest in production a vital necessity for an independent: earlier he commits to a film (in this case, from writing), the best are his chances of acquiringrights.This is how he can support new signatures by sometimes betting big. Dithyrambique sur son précieux poulain Xavier Dolan — « ce type a 26 ans, il a fait 7 films, c'est Mozart»» — à qui il promet le meilleur, soutien sans faille de Safy Nebbou, il accompagne aussi Lukas Dhont dont Girl est une sensation d'Un certain regard :

Diaphana has experienced a little air hole in the past, like everyone in this environment made of risks and uncertainties."But we turned the thing.In addition to 300 films, I have never planted anyone, there is not a single technician to whom we owe money.It's because I was well educated.»» On n'oublie jamais ses vertes années…