Like a beautiful cinematographic story: David Hertzog Dessites, 20-year-old sweeper of the stairs at the Cannes Festival, will return to them on Saturday, at 51 years old, to present a documentary he directed.
“The adult that I am took the hand of the child that I was to make his dream come true,” this Cannes writer tells AFP. Once upon a time, Michel Legranddocumentary about the famous musician.
When he found out that he was selected in the Classics section of Cannes, focused on restored prints and documentaries, this bearded athletic man had difficulty directing. And a powerful scene returned to his mind.
“One morning, around 4, dressed as a sweeper, there was no guard on the stairs at the time, I lay down on the red carpet and said to myself, ‘I’ll come back here with my film.'”
When he was a child, his mother would accompany him to the Festival Palace to see Hollywood stars, such as Kirk Douglas and Robert Mitchum, on the red carpet. His life changed when, at age 20, his mother, a municipal employee, died at age 48. The city of Cannes then offers the young man, who is alone, a job as a sweeper. Who, therefore, sometimes does the 3-8am schedule on and around the red carpet?
“Clandestine party”
The friends who collaborate with the world’s largest gathering of the seventh art allow this film buff to experience the “clandestine festival”, entering secretly.
One morning, during an 11:00 a.m. screening, he sneaks into the screening of pulp fiction by Quentin Tarantino.
“I saw Clint Eastwood (jury president) cover his face with his hands because he was dying of laughter.”
The disappearance of his mother is a “true reinforcement,” as David Hertzog Dessites transforms “this pain into positive energy.” As a self-taught person, he bought his first camera. “I envied my friends from film school and they envied me by ensuring that my point of view was not conditioned.”
A first turning point occurred in 1999. David Hertzog Dessites traveled to the United States to film die-hard “Star Wars” fans awaiting the premiere of the episode titled “The Phantom Menace.” “The fans in Hollywood, New York, were crazy, waiting in tents outside the theaters to be the first to see the movie.” His documentary draws attention.
“This story is great.”
Michel Legrand, it’s another beautiful story. “Her music shook my mother’s pregnancy, my parents met while we were going to see The Thomas Crown Affair and had bought the 45 rpm of the music composed by Michel The television series he watched as a child. Once upon a time life, Oum the white dolphin, are signed by the same composer. and the soundtrack of yentl with Barbra Streisand is “a shock” for the film buff and music lover.
David Hertzog Dessites ended up meeting this “genius” in 2017 when the pianist gave a concert within the framework of the Cannes Film Festival.
Sitting at the foot of the piano – “like a child at the Christmas tree” – during the recital, the conductor speaks to him at the end: “if I exist, it is a little thanks to you.” “This story is great, I love it,” responds Michel Legrand.
That he allows himself to be convinced for a documentary and gives it carte blanche. “He told me that he would not control anything, knowing his demands and the complex character he was, it was the best gift he could give me,” breathes David Hertzog Dessites.
Once upon a time, Michel Legrand covers the last two years of the musician’s life and reviews the career of the composer of Cherbourg umbrellaHe died in 2019 at age 86.
Source: BFM TV
