It is a long way from Brixton to Cannes. Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan (maker of celebrated art-films Distant and Climates) has a new film, Three Monkeys, in the competition. But if he hadn't involved himself in a little creative shoplifting in London during the 1981 Brixton riots, he might never have become a film-maker at all. During a conversation here on the Croisette, Ceylan let slip that, 27 years ago, he was working as a waiter in London, A former engineering student, Ceylan was unsure what he wanted to do with his life and had headed to the UK.
"I was working in Brixton and everybody was stealing things. The shops were broken," Ceylan said of the events in Brixton in April, 1981. He apparently walked around watching fights between police and rioters and scenes of mass looting. "Then I suddenly found myself in a shop." The future director admits a little sheepishly that he helped himself to some Kodachrome film. Shortly after this, he took up photography in a serious way.
Then, after a spell of traveling followed by military service, Ceylan returned to London and first encountered the work of masters like Satyajit Ray, Robert Bresson, Carl Dreyer and Roman Polanski. "The National Film Theatre was one of my best places. And the Scala - every day I was there!" The Brits may not have much to shout about in the Cannes competition this year, but at least we provided essential supplies to someone making a splash there.
