It is with great sorrow that LaCinetek pays tribute to Laurent Cantet, who passed away yesterday, Thursday 25 April, at the age of 63. Audiences have lost a great filmmaker, LaCinetek one of its founders and, above all, a very dear friend.

After studying photography, Laurent Cantet studied at IDHEC, where he met Gilles Marchand, Dominik Moll and Robin Campillo, with whom he forged an indefectible friendship that would later develop into several artistic collaborations.

Inventing unique ways of writing and directing, Laurent Cantet's films have never ceased to blend the material of reality with the novelistic construction of his characters, the better to convey the depth and subtlety of human experience. His films, which combine a certain social harshness with the sensuality of bodies and landscapes, question the relationship between an individual and his environment, between a body and a cinematic space. They are permeated by an absolute love of youth, a joy and responsibility in representing it, without any moral judgement or overhang. With LaCinetek, of which he was one of the cornerstones, he was also thinking first and foremost of young people, of the best way to pass on to them the films they loved.

Laurent was a person of rare kindness, generosity and integrity, whom nothing, not even a Palme d'Or, could sway from his path. 
His loss is huge, as he brought to the highest level the values of friendship and collective commitment. Keeping the collective adventure of LaCinetek alive is the surest way for us to be with him, to feel him at our side.

Our fondest thoughts are with his wife, Isabelle, and their children, Marie and Félix. And to his producer Marie-Ange Luciani, and his three film brothers: Robin Campillo, Gilles Marchand and Dominik Moll. 

Pascale Ferran, Cédric Klapisch, and LaCinetek team