Gringe (pronounced “Grainje”) is not just a rapper, actor and author: he is also a genre cinema lover who is part of the jury chaired by Bérénice Bejo and Michel Hazanavicius at the Gérardmer Festival. “I’m waiting to be caught up in the movies”, explains the forty-year-old to 20 minutes.
Accomplice of Orelsan for the film How far is it and the duo Flowters Breakershe also signed an excellent solo album called Moon Childand fascinating book, Together we bark in silence, about his schizophrenic brother. This man-orchestra who claims to be often lazy has bitten his teeth into the selection of the festival. “It reminds me of my young years when I went to borrow films from video clubs, which was the only way to discover rare films in the provinces,” he recalls.
Cinephile from an early age
At the moment, Gringe is passionate about the filmmaker Alex Garland whom he adored Men, released last June. “The images in this film haunt me,” he admits. I would love to work with Alex Garland because I’m sure I would learn a lot from him. I would go so far as to bring the coffees. While waiting to play baristas for the English director, Gringe is delighted to meet Kim Jee-woon, to whom the event pays tribute and whose I met the devil the brand. “Korean cinema fascinates me with its radicalism,” he says. I like the cinema which shakes. Like that of Michael Haneke (notably Funny Games) which traumatized him.
“I’m no longer afraid of the cinema, but I must say that I started early and strong, he laughs. As a kid, I pretended to be sick to skip school and see movies like Jaws Where The Exorcist that I discovered when I was ten years old. I was terrified but I loved it. “He expects a lot from Knock At The Cabin by M. Night Shyamalan who will pass on Sunday evening at the end of the festival.
Screenwriter but not filmmaker
If Gringe loves cinema, he does not see himself going behind the camera. “I’m lazy,” he said. The shootings in which I took part proved to me that it was a job of madness. Having an eye everywhere is not for me, I prefer writing. Gringe exaggerates by pretending to be lazy, he’s working on a new book that could be correlated to an album. “I get bored quickly so I need to multiply the projects,” he admits. The most recent is to go on stage with the jury this Sunday evening at the time of the Gérardmer prize list.