The Seville European Film Festival is taking part in an initiative organised by the CICAE, scheduled for November 8th, bringing the film Delete History to more than 20 venues throughout Spain, in a simultaneous screening to celebrate International European Film Day. Co-directed by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern, and awarded with a Silver Bear at the Berlinale, it satirizes technology addiction and the danger of globalization and individualism. Encouraging laughter to combat the cyber slavery of the 21st century.
The International Day of European Cinema will be celebrated on November 8th. Organised by the CICAE (International Confederation of Arthouse Cinema Associations) in collaboration with Europa Cinemas (the network of cinemas specialised in programming European films), the initiative has the active participation of the SEFF, which will screen one of its films in competition simultaneously with some twenty cinemas throughout Spain.
The title chosen for the commemoration is Delete History, the ninth feature film directed by the couple Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern (formerly directors of Mammuth and Le grand soir): this is a comedy that satirises people' addiction to mobile phones, social media and online shopping, giving a slap in the face to uncontrolled globalisation. It also uses humour for reflection, advocating a return, perhaps too idealistic, in the face of the wave of individualism that is sweeping us along: "We wanted to convey the idea of solidarity in an increasingly individualistic world, with electronic tools that isolate people more and more. We live in an open-air madhouse! You run out of options and you can no longer talk to real people. The film is about three lonely people who lived very close and yet ignored each other," explains Benoît Delépine.
The characters of Delete History are three wretches familiar with the protest. They met thanks to the yellow vest movement, who decided to oppose their own dependencies and addictions, with more unconscious courage than efficiency, in a sort of quixotic crusade against the technological giants. They are brought to life by Blanche Gardin (I am not an easy man), Corinne Masiero (popular in France thanks to the series Capitaine Marleau and Collection Fred Vargas) and Denis Podalydès (four times nominated for a César and with a career that includes titles such as An Officer and the Spy and Sorry Angel).
The hilarious and eccentric plot of Delete History includes sex videos, stars that value the service of taxi drivers and delivery boys, cyber-bullying, telephone offers and irritating customer services. Yet despite the clear commitment to humour, Gustave Kervern warns: "It's a tragicomedy, our films are always a bit like that. In Delete History we find several genres, and tragedy can sometimes surpass comedy, but we are glad about that, because it means that substance prevails above the form".
The film features regulars from Kervern's and Delépine's films, such as Vincent Lacoste, Benoît Poelvoorde and the writer Michel Houellebecq (in a hilarious suicidal appearance), the film is in the Official Section of the Seville European Film Festival, after having been awarded a Special Silver Bear by the Jury at the last Berlinale.
Five years celebrating European cinema
The International European Cinema Day, or European Arthouse Cinema Day (EACD), is an event organised by the ICCAT and its 11 national and regional member associations, which is the only annual international joint initiative carried out by film exhibitors to promote the circulation of European-produced films and their artistic diversity. While supporting auteur cinema, it also defends the work of the participating cinemas and networks. The European Arthouse Cinema Day will present previews and screenings of festivals, children's films and cinema classics in over 600 cinemas worldwide.
Reaching its fifth edition, the project is supported by distributors, sales agents, producers, filmmakers and right-holder festivals. In addition to the Seville Festival, the Cannes Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, the Berlinale Panorama and Forum and the Sarajevo Festival, among others, are also taking part.
