Latest news with #Bonnin
The Star
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Female director's debut film opens 78th Cannes Film Festival
CANNES, France, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival opened on Tuesday in the southern French resort town of Cannes. For the first time in its history, the festival's opening film is a debut feature directed by a female filmmaker. The selected film, Partir un Jour (Leave One Day), is featured in the Out of Competition section and directed by French filmmaker Amelie Bonnin. Speaking to organizers of the festival, Bonnin shared that her film explores the theme of father-daughter relationships. "I felt there was an opportunity to talk about this generation of men who have not been taught to communicate," she said. This year, 20 films are competing in the Un Certain Regard section, which highlights bold and innovative work by emerging directors from around the world. At last year's 77th Cannes Film Festival, Chinese director Guan Hu's Black Dog took home the award in this category. A total of 22 feature films are in contention for the festival's highest honor, the Palme d'Or. Among them is Resurrection (Kuang Ye Shi Dai), a science fiction detective film directed by Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan. A nine-member jury, chaired by the renowned French actress Juliette Binoche, will determine the winners across all award categories. The results will be announced at the festival's closing ceremony on May 24.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cannes Opener ‘Leave One Day,' Produced by Pathé, Delivers Musical Ode to Everyday Life
Filmmaker Amélie Bonnin wanted her feature debut to carry a personal imprint. The auteur behind this year's Cannes Film Festival opener 'Leave One Day' had already field-tested the concept of a modern jukebox musical with her César-winning short 'Bye Bye,' but once she got to work expanding the premise — and looking for new tracks — she began to question her very focus. More from Variety Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve Family Drama 'Fjord' Sells to Neon Cannes-Bound 'Left-Handed Girl,' 'Heads or Tails?' Producer Cinema Inutile Takes Stake in 1-2 Special Variety to Host Global Conversations Summit at Cannes Film Festival 'I had originally chosen a male lead more out of habit than intention,' Bonnin explains. 'Once I realized that, I knew I wanted to take a different path. I wanted to bring a specific perspective — that of a forty-year-old woman navigating work, questions of motherhood, and desire. I needed to tell this story through my own lens.' Bonnin reshaped her musical dramedy around a rising chef, played by French pop star Juliette Armanet, who returns to her rural hometown to confront a family health crisis and an unexpected pregnancy — just days before launching her namesake restaurant in Paris. In Cannes, Bonnin herself will step into the international spotlight — a remarkable coup for a filmmaker who began in documentary after studying applied arts. 'I've always been drawn to visual storytelling, whether through typography, photography, or illustration,' she says. 'Video only came later, at first as a way to film my own family members and to capture their stories.' She started down her new path more than a decade ago. While in Canada studying graphic design, Bonnin dipped into a screening of Raymond Depardon's small-town doc 'Modern Life,' simply hoping for a few familiar sights. Instead, she found a cinematic north star. 'I cried through the whole film,' she laughs. Overwhelmed and homesick, Bonnin fished out her headphones and looked for music to match the mood. That moment never faded, directly inspiring her own work. 'I like to create a soundtrack for my life,' says Bonnin. 'We all do — we play music on a road trip, before a date, or alone with our headphones after a breakup. [With 'Leave One Day'], I wanted to bring that feeling to the screen. Not through big musical numbers, but with songs that follow real-life moments. It's playful, and it breaks from traditional storytelling, but it's universal, because we've all been there.' To create her anthem for the daily grind, Bonnin started by putting together a soundtrack of chart-toppers and Francophone standards. 'Songs that defined my generation,' she says. 'They had to be instantly recognizable right from the start, and above all, they had to be songs the characters would know — like shared memories from their own lives.' Next, she had her performers belt out each tune live on set, always emphasizing imperfection and spontaneity. 'I can't work in the abstract,' she explains. 'Dubbing was never an option. Every emotion, every inflection had to come from the moment. Capturing what was truly happening in front of us was far more satisfying for the cast and crew — and knowing it's real makes it more powerful for viewers. The joy is immediate.' 'The magic lies in that moment of collective invention — bringing an image to life that couldn't exist any other way,' Bonnin adds, citing Michel Gondry as a key influence. 'It's about building something together, and then watching it unfold in real time.' Bonnin wrote the film for pop star Juliette Armanet — an immensely popular French chanteuse who made her film acting debut in Bonnin's previous short. This time, the star would never step off-screen, all while navigating the joyful chaos of a film set that cherished imperfection. 'Juliette is used to controlling her singing career down to the millimeter, to singing everything perfectly,' Bonnin laughs. 'So I constantly made her perform in a very different way. She wasn't alone in a booth with headphones just thinking about the song — she had to think about how she interacted with her partner, all while skating backward, all while countless people buzzed around her. There was just too much to take into account, and that suited our needs perfectly.' And that same approach might continue to suit Bonnin going forward. 'At first, I thought, I've already made a film with songs — so I can't do that again,' she says. 'But now I think, why not? Music lets me step just outside of reality and access a different kind of storytelling. That touch of fantasy brings greater emotion as well.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Reuters
22-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
France's Bonnin wins pole vault at world indoors
NANJING, China, March 22 (Reuters) - French pole vaulter Marie-Julie Bonnin comfortably cleared 4.75 metres to dethrone Britain's Molly Caudery and win gold at the world indoor championships on Saturday. Bonnin, who won bronze at the European indoors earlier this month, equalled compatriot Ninon Guillon-Romarin's French national record with her performance at Nanjing's Cube. Her two attempts to clear 4.80m did not prove successful but the 23-year-old was all smiles as she celebrated with Slovenia's Tina Sutej, who claimed the silver with 4.70m, and Switzerland's Angelica Moser, who took bronze with a similar effort. "I cannot believe it. It's like a dream. I feel like we were there for a medal, but not the gold," Bonnin said. "The medal last week was so relieving. I came here knowing nobody will be upset if I don't do something good here. I was jumping like it was a meet, not a championships. "It helped me a lot." Caudery, the champion in Glasgow last year, was fourth. In the men's event in the evening session, Sweden's Armand Duplantis, who cleared 6.27m to break world record for an 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last month, will look to continue his domination The session will also feature the finals of the men's and women's 3,000m and 400m events, women's triple jump, men's 60m hurdles and women's 60m.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
LEST WE FORGET: Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, Zitkala-Sa
Raymond WilsonSpecial to ICT Noted musician, author and activist Gertrude Simmons Bonnin was born on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota on Feb. 22, 1876. Her Native name was Zitkala-Sa, meaning Red Bird. In 1884, she was sent to White's Indian Manual Labor Institute, operated by the Quakers, in Wabash, Indiana. There, she, like many Native children at boarding schools, had her hair cut, was punished for speaking her Native language, and was forced to practice a Christian religion. In 1887, Bonnin returned home but found conditions there appalling. In 1892, wanting to further her education, she decided to go back to White's Institute and graduated in 1895. Bonnin then went to Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and became known for her speaking, writing, and violin and piano skills. She represented the school at an Indiana oratory competition in 1896 and won first place. 'Side by Side,' a powerful argument for Native rights, was the title of her presentation. Poor health kept her from graduating from Earlham. She later studied music at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In 1897, Bonnin accepted a position at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, and initially received high praise for her work there. She and the Carlisle Band went on a tour in the northeast that included a performance at the White House in March 1900. A planned trip to the Paris Exposition in France apparently failed due to a lack of funding. Although some sources indicated that she played there, the Carlisle source site on Bonnin did not mention the Paris performance. Bonnin also composed the first Native opera, 'The Sun Dance,' in collaboration with American composer and Brigham Young University music professor William F. Hanson. In 1913, the opera was first performed and well-received in Utah, where Bonnin resided. Although both Natives and non-Natives were original cast members, the latter were the ones who played the major roles, performing in 'red face.' The opera was later performed on Broadway by the New York Opera Guild that selected it as opera of the year in 1938. Bonnin became best known as an author and activist. Her first articles appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in the January, February and March 1900 editions. They were entitled 'Impressions of an Indian Childhood,' 'The School Days of an Indian Girl,' and 'An Indian Teacher Among Indians.' These articles and 'The Soft-Hearted Sioux,' in Harper's Monthly in March 1901 resulted in her being fired by Richard Henry Pratt, the founder of Carlisle, for her anti-assimilation remarks. She wrote several additional articles, including 'Why I Am a Pagan,' in the Atlantic Monthly in December 1902 and other publications in magazines and in the Quarterly Journal of the Society of American Indians, renamed the American Indian Magazine in 1916. Bonnin also wrote two books, 'Old Indian Legends' (1902) and 'American Indian Stories' (1921). Besides losing her job at Carlisle, Bonnin broke off her engagement to Carlos Montezuma, a Yavapai physician, author, journalist and activist, also in 1901. They both had worked at Carlisle but had some disagreements regarding assimilation versus acculturation issues. She married Raymond T. Bonnin, a Yankton, in 1902. They worked as BIA clerks at the Uintah Ouray Ute Reservation in Utah for several years and witnessed the deplorable conditions on the reservation. She continued to intensify her demands for Native reforms through her relationship with the Indian Rights Association, the Lake Mohonk Conference of Friends of the Indians, and the Society of American Indians. Regarding the latter, she became a powerful member of the society, serving as secretary, managing correspondence, lecturing at annual conferences, publishing in their journal, and becoming editor of the journal in 1916. Bonnin left the society in 1920 because of issues such as the use of peyote, which she denounced while other members did not, and society articles not addressing needed reforms as it once had. She was among those who testified at U.S. House of Representatives committee hearings related to the usage of peyote in 1918. During her last decades, Bonnin worked with the General Federation of Women's Clubs, demanding more Native self-determination and better education opportunities for Native children. She also investigated non-Native corruption and graft in Oklahoma against the Five Civilized Tribes in 1923. In 1926, she and her husband established the National Council of American Indians. She served as its president. The primary mission of the organization was to organize Native voters to become more politically involved to improve their rights. Bonnin initially supported Indian New Deal acts in the 1930s but questioned the dominant role that the BIA still played in the process. Bonnin died on January 21, 1938, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. She was among the few major Native females who addressed many of the important issues that concerned Indigenous people in the United States. Sources: Carlisle Indian School Papers; Society of American Indians Papers; Carlos Montezuma Papers; Tadeusz Lewandowski, Red Bird, Red Power (2019) Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute $5 or $10 today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
