A humanistic documentary, carrying essential values, about the “soul” of the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival: Pierre-Henri Deleau. He is a remarkable enabler. A man of influence, with great sensitivity and vast culture, the defender of bold and avant-garde cinema. Deleau: Cinema Unchained traces an era when cinema was still being discovered, through testimonies from the greatest: Michael Haneke, Ken Loach, Denis Arcand, Atom Egoyan. My film captures the profound meeting of two souls united by their devotion to cinema. The lens through which I portray Pierre-Henri Deleau is coloured by deep affection and reverence for his extraordinary contributions to auteur cinema worldwide – a legacy forged during his transformative 30-year tenure as director of the Directors’ Fortnight. This work emerges from the remarkable bond between us, born of shared passion and mutual understanding. It stands as both an act of faith and a heartfelt love letter to the art form that has defined our lives – cinema in its purest, most uncompromising form.

Michel La Veaux