Paris Autumn Festival's 39th Edition: Mourning and Uncertainty

The 39th edition of the Festival d'Automne in Paris opens without its late director Alain Crombecque, who died recently. The festival, founded by Michel Guy, faces an uncertain future as a new director is expected and state pressure mounts on the independent institution. Historical directors Marie Collin and Joséphine Markovits recall that similar threats arose after Guy's death. Despite record attendance and new audiences, the festival's identity as a pluridisciplinary, international, nomadic event no longer distinguishes it from other festivals. Collin notes the loss of the Chapelle de la Salpêtrière as a venue for visual arts has disrupted programming. Markovits advocates for a 'policy of authors' akin to the critical stance of Cahiers du cinéma. The dance program features mostly European choreographers including Mathilde Monnier, Raimund Hoghe, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Boris Charmatz, and Julie Nioche, with the American Merce Cunningham Dance Company performing its final contracts. The program reflects a period of mourning in dance following the deaths of Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, Maurice Béjart, and Kazuo Ohno. Raimund Hoghe's piece 'Si je meurs, laissez le balcon ouvert' pays homage to Dominique Bagouet and, by extension, to Crombecque. Future editions will focus on Mexico for music and Argentina for theater.