Guest of Honour: Gérard Jugnot
Masterclass: Gérard Jugnot
Free entry, booking required
Length: 1h00
Moderation: Jean-Baptiste Toussaint from the Tales From The Click (TFTC) youtube channel and podcast
From his early days at the Splendid to his own productions, Gérard Jugnot reveals the secrets of his comic art. Writing, directing actors, pacing, performance and staging: during a masterclass led by Jean-Baptiste Toussaint from the Tales From The Click (TFTC) channel, he looks back on his career and on a way of making people laugh that never loses sight of the human element.
Actor, director and screenwriter, Gérard Jugnot made his name with the Splendid theatre troupe. There, he created a gallery of characters who are grumpy, clumsy, cowardly or overwhelmed by events, often embodying the “average Frenchman”. His appearance, voice and acting style have helped make him an instantly recognisable face of French comedy. Over the years, his comic style has also enabled him to develop roles in which the burlesque blends with a great sensitivity.
One of the defining features of his cinema lies in this expression, which he himself uses: “ordinary characters confronted with extraordinary events”. He describes this way of observing the world and its absurdities, somewhere between laughter, drama and melancholy, as “sneering sociology”. This vision is evident in his own films, from Une époque formidable (1991), Monsieur Batignole (2002), or even his latest film, Mauvaise Pioche (2026), where Jugnot returns to this theme: a man caught up in a situation that is beyond his control.
Gérard Jugnot has been entertaining generations of filmgoers for over fifty years. The VIFFF is delighted to be able to honour this genius of comedy.