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He trains his lens instead on the brutalist
apartment towers of the 13th arrondissement, known as the
Chinatown of Paris, where he once lived.
With characters inspired by the graphic novels of American
artist Adrian Tomine, Audiard sketches young, educated but
disillusioned people trying to find their path, and he
consciously avoids film clichés of the rich-poor divide in
France.
"I wanted to talk about the middle class, people who have
university degrees and have somewhat obtained a level of
success, but don't really have anything going for them," Audiard
told Reuters on Thursday, a day after his film premiered in
Cannes.
"Paris 13th district" is one of 24 films in competition for the
Palme d'Or at the 74th Cannes festival.
Filming during the COVID-19 lockdown helped first-time actress
Lucie Zhang get into her character Emilie, a young woman
struggling to hold a job and not fall in love with her one-time
flatmate.
"During the pandemic, we're a lot more alone, and closed and
isolated. So maybe that can bring this type of emotion in the
characters, unconsciously," Zhang said.
Audiard, who won the Palme d'Or in 2015 with "Dheepan", a film
about Tamil refugees in France, said it was troubling that some
French films lack multi-racial representation.
In "Paris 13th district", two of the main characters - Camille
and Emilie - are from immigrant families.
"In (Francois) Truffaut's films, you could see a real estate
agent too, or a lover that passes out, but there is no Black
person, no Chinese person," Audiard told journalists.
Audiard is the director of critically-acclaimed films including
"The Sisters Brothers", "A Prophet" and "Rust and Bone".
(Reporting by Michaela Cabrera, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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