“The Safe house”, interview with director Lionel Baier

February 22, 2025

Lionel Baier with The Safe house brings to screen life May ’68’s Paris as described by Boltanski in Michel Blanc’s final act

“The Safe house”, interview with director Lionel Baier Chiara Nicoletti

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Swiss director Lionel Baier is at the 75th Berlinale with his new film “La Cache – The Safe house” in competition.

The film is inspired by a small but poignant paragraph of Christophe Boltanski’s “La Cache“, set in Paris, May ’68.

The secret to managing this apparent impossible challenge of adapting Boltanski’s text, was focusing on this very short period of time, mixing the words of the book’s author with elements from Baier’s own family story.

Baier confirms that “May 1968 was a fascinating era to film because it’s the very root of our current period. For better or worse”.

In the role of the grandfather, in the family the film portrays, french actor Michel Blanc in his last performance on the big screen. He died on on Friday, October 4, 2024.

Lionel Baier describes his experience in directing him and declares that he was the obvious choice for the role.

Plot

Paris, May ‘68: A 9-year-old boy is thrilled to stay a few extra days with his grandparents in their perennial apartment, joined by his two lively uncles— a visual artist and an aspiring intellectual—and his colourful great- grandmother from Odessa, while his parents join the historical protests. As the country is turned upside down, the family is forced to confront the past when an illustrious guest seeks shelter in their venerated hideout.

Written by: Chiara Nicoletti

Guest

Lionel Baier