The Instituto Francés de Madrid presents a new summer film night with the screening of the French film Making Of, directed by Cédric Kahn, which immerses the viewer behind the scenes of a chaotic shooting where cinema and real life are mixed up until they become confused. Screening in French with subtitles in Spanish. Tickets can be purchased at this link.
Denis Podalydès and Jonathan Cohen play the main protagonists of this dramatic comedy. The story follows Simon, a committed director who is filming a social film about workers’ struggle. But soon, what happens behind the scenes becomes as conflictual as the story it tries to tell: tensions between the actors, budget problems, an absent producer, technicians on strike, egos that clash… and all this while a young making-of filmmaker discreetly records the whole process, capturing the cracks between art, ideology and reality. Making Of reflects, with irony and affection, on the difficulties of independent cinema, the incoherence between progressive discourses and industry practices, and the eternal dilemma of artistic compromise. With a brilliant cast and a script that mixes social criticism, comedy and self-irony, the film presents itself as a choral portrait of the cinema’s craft and its internal contradictions.
Cédric Kahn is a French director, screenwriter and actor known for his committed and human cinema. Throughout his career he has sensitively explored themes such as desire, faith, social conflict and the power of cinema itself. Author of films like Roberto Succo, A Better Life or The Believer, has been awarded at festivals such as Cannes and Berlin.