The 25th edition of the La Rochelle Festival of Fiction opened this Tuesday, September 12. After Sandrine Bonner last year, it is now the turn of Audrey Fleuro to become the president of the jury for this 2023 edition, which runs until Sunday.
During an interview with Allociné, the actor, who has been at HPI for three years during TF1’s heyday with his character Morgan Alvaro, spoke to us about his role as president and how he will judge the 44 pieces of fiction in the competition. Which, like every year, are always as rich and diverse.
From the mini-series The Spies of Terror to the feature The Enchanted, including La Tribu and Un Destin Unexpectu, Audrey Fleuro and the judges must agree to reveal this year’s big winners.
Audrey Fleuro also has double news because, in addition to her role as president, she presents a preview of the first episode of Infiltré(e), the new France 2 series that will air from September 25, in which she plays one of the Starring with Thierry Neuwich.
Alocine: What do you like most about being president of the jury of the La Rochelle Art Festival? Is this an offer you can’t refuse?
Audrey Fleur : Yes, it cannot be refused. I was glad to be available. I’d be a bit sad not to be able to do it because it’s a festival that I think is great. I probably missed some releases, but I came often. It’s a very happy holiday.
It’s a silly thing to say, but La Rochelle is a great city to see the best of French and European fiction. Every year there are real gems.
And since I now have a new role as a producer, I thought it was an opportunity to keep up with what’s happening in television. I discovered actors, authors, directors that I didn’t know. It allows me to be up to date, all in a fairly short amount of time. And I meet friends on every street corner!
What place does television play in your life?
I watch many series. love it very much. I also really like movies, but I find that a TV series allows us to create a connection with the characters that lasts longer.
The series also covers a wide variety of topics. The festival programming is actually pretty crazy. We’re really moving from the very intimate to the more universal. I find that TV series have taken on a certain amount of things that cinema has somewhat neglected.
There is such a flow that there is also room for small series made with small resources but which deal with very interesting issues. This small budget also gives them a form of tonal freedom. The series has a wide range in which everyone can find what they are looking for.
The selection of the festival, as every year, is very rich. Do you have a favorite genre?
Not easily! This is also good in the series. I can’t say that I particularly like detective, comedy or thriller. What I like and what people like is a good series, regardless of genre.
It’s a bit like being an actor. I like flaws. I like doing very different things. It’s the project that excites me the most, it’s not the genre. What I find so interesting about the series is that there is a lot that will allow the audience to discover a world they know nothing about and that will captivate them because it is so well told.
You feel like you learned something, discovered a world you didn’t know. For example, when we did ten percent, I wondered who would be interested in that.
We were still talking about a topic that only a few people in the industry were interested in. But as well said, it involved people who learned more about this environment. The main thing in the series is the gallery of characters and what happens to them.
How will you evaluate the works in the competition?
First of all, the narrative will come in, I judge in works of art and I need to participate in the narrative. This is one of my criteria. There are many series that I am quite disappointed with.
What I find difficult is that you can only watch the pilot, because this is the episode that allows you to establish the characters and the situation. This is just an introduction. When we can see 5 episodes of the series, we already have an idea of what it will be like. It’s all very subjective.
Have you started watching competition fiction yet? Are things settling down yet?
Yes, I have already started watching because it would be difficult to see everything in one week. What’s really nice is that, with the other members of the jury, we haven’t all seen the same thing.
We have three screenings a day to discover fiction. It is clearly not the same as seeing the works projected in the cinema. We haven’t seen enough to discuss yet, but there are already fictional thoughts that stick in my mind.
Over the past ten years, French fiction has experienced a boom in quality and boldness. Do you feel this in every project you are offered?
Yes. I feel very lucky to have arrived at a time when the right roles came along. Women’s roles are becoming more and more fleshed out. There is a spectrum that is really wide. Broadcasters have finally realized that most of the people who watch soap operas are women and they need to project themselves.
Besides, I love television. I grew up with it and I like the very fast pace of filming. I often go back to my hotel room and tell myself that I should have done something differently.
It’s very frustrating, but at the same time, I love the energy that comes from working in a hurry. I also really like the army effect. I’m from theater and I like meeting my cast and crew.
I’ve had the chance to play characters for a long time and it’s a very valuable opportunity because you grow with the character. These are adventures that last several years. And every time it stops, it’s like mourning. It’s different when I shoot feature films.
Whether it’s Engrenages, French Village or Kaamelott, in the moment of the last shot we experience something powerful because the character was a part of our lives. It’s the same when you’re a spectator.
When you’re a fan of a series and you’ve watched it for 6 seasons, there’s always a little bit of mourning to do. Personally, when I know I’m going to watch the last episode of a series I really liked, I plan my evening around that. And I know I will have post-episode depression.
Infiltré(e), your new series, which airs on France 2 from September 25, will be previewed this Friday night as part of the festival. You play as Aurel, a mother who has to infiltrate a drug network to save her son. What attracted you to this role?
This is a team. I wanted to meet Emmanuel Dawes, the producer, Jean-Philippe Amar, the director, and Frédéric Crivine, the author, with whom I had already worked at Un Village Français.
I have a very emotional connection with this series. I wanted to do something together for a long time. Emmanuel Dawes is a producer I have a lot of respect for and Frederic Crivin is a very good writer. So beyond the character, I especially wanted to find this team on a new project that had nothing to do with Un Village Français.
You filmed Infiltré(e) alongside HPI season 3 filming. Wasn’t it very difficult to go from the very colorful and funny character of Morgan to the role of Aurel, who is much more dramatic?
It’s less difficult when shooting with a unit. Which is even more difficult when filming is going on simultaneously. It was like that when I was working on Un Village Français and Engrenages. On Monday I played Josephine for Engrenages and on Tuesday I became Hortense for Un Village français.
What was more intense was that when Departed was finished filming, the next day, I resumed shooting HPI Season 3. Fortunately, I know Morgan and can find him very easily.
Source: Allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
