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Jerry Rudes Bids Bon Voyage to Avignon
Jerry Rudes, Jeremy Wheelan and Mary Stuart Masterson toast the 25th Avignon Film Festival. Photo by Ashley Wren Collins
Benjamin is barking commands fast and furious: “Throw the ball backhanded!” A chorus of heads swivel and look at him quizzically. “Backhanded!,” Benjamin shrills. Dan uses his body weight to thrust his messenger bag behind him, shrugs and steps up to the dirt line demarcated by the halfhearted softshoe of a sneaker. Just as he crouches and cups his hand around the boule, narrowing his eyes to focus on the cochonnet, a low rumble of a stampede kicks up a swirling dust cloud as Celia leads a euphoric charge across the boulodrome, the floodlights catching the rapid flurry of body slams between David and Hugo and an endless succession of high-fives. Philippe and Gilles pop the corks on 2005 Châteauneuf-du-Pape chilling in the cooler of a propped up hatch of a 1997 Peugeot, toasting one another with a smile and definitive look in the eye before savoring the taste of the wine.
It’s 3:30 a.m. on a sweltering June night in Avignon, France and this motley crew is enjoying a robust game of petanque, with the seasoned French and their fellow European teammates getting a run for their euro from their virgin American rivals. For those of you still wondering what I’m talking about, a quick definition and visual on petanque in Wikipedia should do the trick.
Less than six hours later you’ll find this same group dining on warm and flaky croissants, sipping café au lait, swapping stories on how HD is changing the film industry, how too many editors in the room spoil the pot and then carrying this conversation into the 10:00 a.m. screening of a French short and an American feature, each followed by a lively Q&A. This format will continue until midnight, alternating between fine films and rich seminars, bookended by wine that goes down like water and tomatoes as red as the sun.
Might this sound like some sort of high school reunion gone wild? A weekend corporate retreat as part of the CEO’s initiative to encourage creativity in the work force? Or adult summer camp for the artistically inclined and cubicle-y challenged? No, it’s the 2008 Avignon Film Festival. It’s been around for 25 years. And there’s nothing like it.
There are no free gift bags with the latest camera and feather duster in one or eelskin boots with llama lining, no secretive press rooms to navigate, no outlandishly priced badge that buys you the exclusive once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to wait in line for a film you still won’t get to see. Just plenty of excellent wine and stellar, stimulating company convening in the midst of a rare, challenging, risky and compelling program of American and European shorts, features and documentaries. Oh, and all in the beautiful south of France.
The man behind the operation is Jerome Henry Rudes, a Texas native who, after completing degrees at the University of Texas and Northwestern University and becoming disenchanted with the Nixon years, found himself in Europe in the early 1970s, teaching and running English schools, then diving for mussels and learning the craft of stone masonry. Following several teaching stints in Denmark and France (with a break to write novels and bake bread at a commune), a passion for film that he translated into writing reviews for an avant-garde magazine in London, a chance encounter brought him to the Cannes Film Festival in the 1980s, where he was befriended by renowned French moviemaker Agnès Varda.
“It’s not what I thought it would be,” Jerry said bluntly, a trace of disappointment in his voice.
Agnes fixed her steady gaze on him: “What did you think it would be?”
“Well, I guess I thought it would be more friendly and democratic.”
A chortle of laughter enveloped him from the small group within eavesdropping distance. “Yeah, right!” someone muttered under his breath.
“So, start your own film festival then!” Agnes shot back, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
And that’s exactly what he did.
“Jerry has an incredible talent of bringing people together, a great talent in picking films, great generosity,” says Christine Lahti, Oscar-winning director and Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress, who first attended the festival 20 years ago and returned for the 25th this year. “He’s a sort of father figure, [he] connects people to each other, makes it his business to make sure the right people are meeting each other… because it is so small and intimate and because of Jerry’s energy, it feels like a big family. I think Jerry is the main reason it has endured.”
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