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SCREENING OF THE FILM “A FEW NOTES ON FREEDOM” FEATURING MICHEL PORTAL (FRENCH VERSION). 

THIS GREAT MUSICAL FIGURE FROM SAINT-GERMAIN-DES-PRÉS, WHO PERFORMED MULTIPLE TIMES AT THE FESTIVAL, RECENTLY PASSED AWAY.

The festival wishes to pay him a heartfelt tribute through the screening of the magnificent film: “Quelques notes sur la liberté,” whose soundtrack will be released on May 22. In a minimalist setting, stripped of all artifice, the film delves into the heart of the musical artistry of Michel Portal, an unclassifiable composer and multi-instrumentalist. Michel Portal plays alone. He invites us into the laboratory where his music is crafted; he listens, listens again, writes, plays, and speaks to us in his only language: music. More than a portrait, A Few Notes on Freedom is a sensory immersion into the artist’s inner workshop. The camera captures the moment of invention, and when Michel Portal tries to explain improvisation, he is at a loss for words…

WHAT THE PRESS IS SAYING:

“Rarely has a film about music come so close to capturing the creative process of the composer and improviser; rarely has a music documentary managed to portray the musician’s physicality with such intimacy. There is no biographical narrative here, no concert or tour footage, nor any testimonials from collaborators or staged encounters. These Few Notes on Freedom are, in fact, a firsthand account of transcending constraints—of how an artist knows how to step outside a framework to surpass his own limits. What might otherwise remain an abstraction—albeit a lyrical one—takes on an undeniably concrete character here. Michel Portal returns to it constantly, between takes: “Music is…”. And we leave this film with the feeling of having lived through a unique experience, at the heart of the creative laboratory. Up close with an exceptional musician, with his joys and sorrows, his flashes of brilliance and his fragilities. Body and soul.”

Arnaud Merlin, Producer at France Musique Radio

Special screening in the presence of his musician friend Daniel Humair and Benjamin Delattre.
Two additional screenings will take place on Saturday, May 23, and Sunday, May 24, at 2:00pm, in the presence of Benjamin Delattre.

“A Few Notes on Freedom” (« Quelques notes sur la liberté ») a film by Benjamin Delattre
Produced by Sophie Faudel – Mélisande Films. Co-written by Baptiste Amigorena and Isabelle Poudevigne
2025 • 53 minutes.