Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Fremaux had a special bond with David Lynch. During his very first edition of the festival as artistic director in 2001, Fremaux had programmed “Mulholland Drive,” which won best director at the festival and went on to earn an Oscar nomination.
From then on, Fremaux and Lynch became friends. A year later, he brought Lynch back as president of the jury. When Lynch presented his follow-up to the groundbreaking TV series “Twin Peaks,” he brought the first two episodes of “Twin Peaks: The Return” Cannes, which made an exception by showing the episodes as part of the official selection, traditionally confined to movies. Prior to Fremaux’s tenure, Lynch won Cannes’ Palme d’Or with “Wild at Heart,” then had “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” and “The Straight Story” in the official selection.
Fremaux felt connected to Lynch for many reasons besides his lifelong loyalty to Cannes. They shared a love for classic movies — Lynch was as much a cinephile as Fremaux — and a love for French culture.
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Thierry Fremaux talked to Variety about his relationship with David Lynch:
I was always close to David Lynch because on my first year as artistic director in 2001, I programmed “Mulholland Drive” and it’s such an indelible memory. It played at 10:30 p.m. and it received an incredible ovation, even if people didn’t understand everything about it. They felt that it was a unique movie, and with the two actresses… It was just an instant classic.
And then, the following year, he became president of the jury. We met in the autumn in Los Angeles to prepare for this. I remember him saying to me: “Who selects the jury? I told him: It’s us, it’s the Cannes Film Festival but of course, if you ever have an enemy or people you don’t want on the jury, you have to tell us.” And he said, “I don’t have any enemies, but even if I did, I wouldn’t forbid them to be on the jury.”
And I knew right away that he was a generous guy. We prepared everything, we saw each other during the calm. And then, if I tell you the truth, we never left each other’s side. His jury gave the Palme d’Or to “The Pianist.”
I remember that “The Pianist” had been at the end of the festival and was very anxious to see it. They’d also made a triumph for Aki Kaurismäki to “A Man Without a Past” and he when he came up on stage, he walked up to David and instead of saying thank you, he said: “Who are you?” David Lynch laughed. He saw that he was dealing with an incredibly sensitive and original person. After that, we never parted.
I remember that for “Inland Empire,” his last feature film, I said: “David, why the hell didn’t you come to Cannes?’ He said: ‘I wasn’t ready for Cannes. I went to Venice. But as you saw, I didn’t go to the competition, I only go to Cannes.’”
We used to see each other in Los Angeles, and every time he came to Paris, he did a lot of lithography. He had a lithography studio in Paris. The Fondation Cartier supported him a lot. We’d see each other here and there, have dinner with his wife Emily, and with Melita Toscan du Plantier, who was very good friends with him. We never stopped seeing each other, until he started shooting “Twin Peaks.” I tell the story in my book — how I got him back at Cannes with “Twin Peaks: The Return.” It was so impressive. I remember saying to him at the end: “Hey, this is a great series.” He said: “It’s not a series, it’s a film.”
One day, when we were at the Café de Flore in Paris, we were talking about cinema and cinephilia, because he had come to Lyon too, to the Institut. The last one. He was incredibly admiring of cinephiles, because he came from art history. He came from art, but he had chosen cinema. He loved cinema, of course. He knew about cinema, but it amused him, the cinephile.
One day, while we were having dinner at the Café de Flore, he said to me, “When cinema dies, France will be the last country where it will breathe.” He admired the way France defended and continues to defend artists and independence. In fact, his great comrade was Alain Sarde, who produced his films.
We corresponded a lot by email and all his emails were written in capital letters. He was just a permanent artist and a lover of beauty in all its forms. At the same time, he was an incredibly simple human being. In other words, you’d think he’d be as tormented as his films. He wasn’t. He was so simple, so generous. He was ready for friendship.