Pierre Viot, who was president of the Cannes Film Festival for more than 15 years, passed away on August 6, 2020. He was 95.
A man who has been "75 years in the service of culture"
Born on April 9, 1925 in Bordeaux, Pierre Viot became a figure in the cultural world. Resistant during the Second World War, he then studied at the ENA. He thus entered the senior civil service. The former president of the Cannes Film Festival was first an advisor to the Court of Auditors. He then turned to the world of culture by directing the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) from 1973 to 1984.
Pierre Viot continued with the presidency of the Cannes Film Festival, replacing Robert Favre le Bret. He stayed there for nearly 15 years, from 1984 to 2000. He also took part in the construction of the Opéra Bastille, chairing the board of directors of the public institution in charge of the project, from 1985 to 1987. At his last Cannes Film Festival in June 2000, he told AFP (Agence France Presse):
"I have lived a great passion, and this passion does not leave me".
A lover of the small and big screen, missed by his peers
During his leadership of the CNC, he had to face the dissolution of the ORTF, signing the end of the monopoly of the French state on French television and radio. He had to reconcile cinema and television then in great competition. His collaborators describe him as someone who promoted art and preserved the memory of cinema.
If the Palme d'Or was created in 1955, the current design was changed by Pierre Viot in 1997. He commissioned the Swiss company Chopard to design this prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In addition, during his presidency, Gilles Jacob, then General Delegate, created the Cinéfondation in 1998. This foundation aims to look for new talents. It selects 15 to 20 visual productions from all film schools in the world.
Many personalities from the world of culture pay tribute to him such as Gilles Jacob. The latter had worked with him from 1984 to 2000 and succeeded him as president. He describes him as a "protector of a close-knit team" that "brought to the festival nobility, moral elegance and a sense of state". The current president of the Festival, Pierre Lescure, defines it as a "legal, economic, moral guarantor of the Festival and at the same time the freedom of spirit to Gilles Jacob to take the festival almost already into the 21st century". The current General Delegate of the Festival, Thierry Frémaux, announced that Pierre Viot was "one of those who, with a public commitment never denied, have made the history of the Cannes Film Festival".
Pierre Viot, little known to the general public, has nevertheless contributed a lot to the promotion and influence of culture. He dedicated an immense part of his life to the seventh art and his imprint will remain indelible. Despite the fact that the Cannes Film Festival did not take place this year due to Covid-19, we hope that a tribute will be paid to him at the next edition.
