After Pedro Almodóvar in 2014, this year's Lumière Award of the Institut Lumière was presented to the great filmmaker Martin Scorsese! For the occasion, the Lyon Conference Center Amphitheater and its  "Salle 3000" took on a New Yorker accent, with energetic rock'n'roll blaring throughout the evening, punctuated by surprises and various screenings, each one more remarkable than the next. Select extracts from Lumière !
 

Photo : Jean-Luc Mège
 

The stars are on hand for the tribute to one of the biggest personalities of the cinema. Lining up for the photo call are Jane Birkin, Alexandre Desplat, Vincent Pérez, Françoise Fabian, Richard Anconina, Pierre Lescure, Marie Amachoukeli, Géraldine Chaplin, Tony Gatlif. Alysson Paradis and Guillaume Gouix, Pierre Richard, Souleymane Cissé, Michel Hazanavicius and Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Léa Drucker, Clémence Poesy, Vincent Lacoste, Edouard Baer, Raphaël Personnaz, Abbas Kiarostami, Hippolyte Girardot, François Cluzet, Salma Hayek, Max Von Sydow…

After much anticipation, when Martin Scorsese walks in, he gets a rollicking welcome to the beat of the Stones' Jumpin 'Jack Flash.

A video of the festival program overview is screened as a starter, and the classic card game scene from Marius, "You break my heart!" gets extra laughs from the audience!

After Un año de amor by Nino Ferrer last year, Camélia Jordana launches into a magnificent performance, accompanied on the piano, crooning a smooth, touching version of New York, New York, the theme song of the legendary movie, released in 1977. Following her performance, Thierry Frémaux plays us a video "tribute" by Robert de Niro to his friend Marty, a concise (i.e. incredibly brief) message, true to his character!

The audience and guest of honor are treated to screenings of fragments of period films, from the Lumière brothers to Elia Kazan, gems of the past that depict "everything about the new world," filmed in Chicago or New York at the turn of the 20th century. A collection of these films is then presented to Martin Scorsese in a special film reel gift box.

The tribute continues with contemplative images of a snowy landscape by director Abbas Kiarostami, who made the trip from Tehran especially for the occasion.

The film music composer Jean-Michel Bernard plays "Marty's Suite" on the piano, a musical homage to the director, for whom he'd composed the music to Hugo in 2011.

There is a special thought for Institut Lumière President, Bertrand Tavernier (unfortunately absent), in a clip of the French filmmaker's Oscar-winning film, 'Round Midnight (1986), with Scorsese in an actor's role! Filmed in a New York taxi, the scene brings together Scorsese and a young François Cluzet. The French actor is on hand to emphasize the generosity and "solid" side of this acting partner, so special to him.

Jane Birkin steps up to the piano and sings "As Time Goes By." Then a clip of Laurel and Hardy doing their charming silly dance from Far West by James W. Horne (1937) makes the crowd erupt with laughter. Guests like Max von Sydow, Géraldine Chaplin and Olivia Harrison then take the stage and revel in a supreme video tribute, composed of the "biggest hits" (a difficult feat, given the choices!) of Scorsese's diverse and powerful filmography.

Now the time has come for Scorsese to take the stage. With Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones on high volume and the crowd on its feet, Salma Hayek presents the Lumière Award to the director. In an emotional speech, Martin Scorsese remembers how, as an asthmatic little boy in New York, his parents took him "from theater to theater" to help him forget. He later discusses his discovery of the joys of cinema and the importance of passing it on, though the restoration of classic films for the Film Foundation.

The tribute ends on a high note with the whole audience singing a swinging, giant karaoke of the theme song of the evening, New York New York!
 

The Lumière Award is presented to Martin Scorsese "for his entire filmography, for his generous love of film, for his tireless fight in preserving the cinema of the past, for his feature films and documentaries, for his love of music, for his kindness to young filmmakers from around the world," but also (and especially) for his thunderous laugh!

The Lumière Award was created by Thierry Frémaux and Bertrand Tavernier to celebrate a filmmaker or personality of the cinema in Lyon, the very place where the cinematograph was invented by Louis and Auguste Lumière, and where they shot their first film, Leaving the Factory, in 1895. Because we must express our appreciation to the directors and artists of the cinema who fill our lives, the Lumière Award is a distinction reflecting time, gratitude, and admiration.