Cannes’ Doc Jury Head and Former Golden Bear Winner Nicolas Philibert On the Importance of Improvisation in His Work

variety.com:

Lise Pedersen Honoring an annual tradition, Nicolas Philibert, the head of this year’s Œil d’Or Jury, which rewards the best documentary at the Cannes Film Festival, opened up about his filmmaking process before an industry crowd on the final day of Cannes Docs, the Film Market sidebar dedicated to documentary film.

Hosted by France’s National Film Board (CNC) and moderated by film programmer and producer Madeline Robert, the conversation focused on the French director’s work in psychiatry, notably his recent trilogy, which started with the 2023 Golden Bear winner “On the Adamant.” Shot on a floating day care centre in Paris for people suffering from mental disorders, “On the Adamant” follows a group of patients as they attend a variety of activities and share the stories of their lives with the filmmaker.

The next two films are “Averroès & Rosa Parks” and “The Typewriter and Other Headaches,” both released earlier this year.

But, Philibert explained, the trilogy was not part of a plan. Rather, it unfolded organically. “I improvise quite a lot. I avoid preparing too much to allow encounters to occur,” he said, adding that he had only planned to make a single feature film when he started filming on the Adamant, the name of the boat. “Then, because of the people I met there, I was moved to go further and make a tryptic.