Hôtel La Louisiane

Michel La Veaux

Some fifteen years ago, while in Paris, Michel La Veaux found himself having by chance to spend a night at the Hôtel La Louisiane. At that moment, he had the distinct feeling of having "arrived" somewhere – in a place much more than a simple layover in any hotel. He had rarely felt such pleasure and comfort, in this place that had welcomed great names then and now.

Jean-Paul Sartre sought refuge there, fleeing his mother's cold apartment when the coal rations were too austere. It was there also that Simone de Beauvoir penned "Le Deuxième Sexe", her major work. Singer Juliette Gréco and jazz musician Miles Davis lived their love affair there. La Louisiane, however, is not solely a resting place for the ghosts of the past. It remains a favourite hangout for modern creators who are still very much alive, such as Olivier Py, Quentin Tarantino, and Robert Lepage.

Distribution

Director	Michel La Veaux
Cinematographer	Michel La Veaux
Screenplay	Michel La Veaux
Participation	Albert Cossery, Olivier Py, Gérard Oberlé, Robert Lepage, Juliette Gréco
Production	LES FILMS OUTSIDERS INC
Distribution	K-FILMS AMÉRIQUE

Biographie

Michel La Veaux

Emminent director of photography, winner of many awards ("Le Démantèlement", Sébastien Pilote's "Le Vendeur", Micheline Lanctôt's "Pour l’Amour de Dieu", "Iqaluit", "Décharge", Benoît Pilon's "Ce Qu’Il Faut Pour Vivre"), Michel La Veaux takes on a subject he knows well for his first feature documentary.

For over seventeen years, every time his work takes him to Paris, La Veaux has stayed at La Louisiane.
With every stay, through his readings and his conversations, he has become acquainted with the history and the people of the hotel.

This film was made as a revealed intimacy, one which is physically shared, like the presence of someone close, an actor in front of the camera, or a loved one sleeping in room 10 of the oasis that is La Louisiane.

With this stranger's look on the hotel and on a few of its patrons, La Veaux shares with them his thoughts on the value of the word "freedom".