Armande Altaï, multiple artist, free and committed, former singing teacher of the “Star Academy”, singer and underground heroine of the Palace years crosses Paris from sidewalks to taxis, from cafes to church, even on a train to Marseille. In pursuit of her distant beauty, Armande questions the passage of time, life and perhaps what comes after… Un portrait d’Armande Altaï is the first documentary film by Anna Medveczky (granddaughter by actress Bernadette Lafont) will be screened at the Saint-André des Arts cinema from February 15, 2023.
⇒ The portrait of Armande Altai
Our guests are Armande Altaï and Anna Medveczky
Armande Altai (name of her maternal grandmother) was born in Aleppo in 1944 to a French officer father and a Turkish mother, daughter of a bey of Circassian origin. After an early childhood in Syria, Lebanon and Africa, Armande moved to Marseille.
She attended the Beaux-Arts and the Conservatory where she obtained a first prize in lyrical art, then moved to Paris.
She puts on the show “Godspell” with Dave and Daniel Auteuil. Then participates in creations for theater and contemporary opera. She pulls out her 1er album Atavism in 1979, will follow Unformulated in 1981, Flamboyant night in 1983, Fantasy heroines in 2006.
After having been one of the characters of the Star Academy (the eccentric and benevolent singing teacher who haunted the castle), Armande Altaï set up her “little conservatory” at the Center de danse du Marais (room Rameau), published her autobiography This Music That Comes To Me From Afar at Lattès, in 2003. She is now at the Documentary Center of the director Anna Medveczky: a portrait of Armande Altaï.
Note of intent toAnna Medveczky : why a portrait of Armande Altaï ?
” I belong to the Star Ac generation, the one who saw the birth of the show and the concept of reality TV, during my college years. I was impatiently awaiting the Saturday evening bonuses and the daily ones, which thus punctuated the seasons of my 13 years. This is where I discovered Armande Altaï, like millions of other viewers: the singing teacher at Star Academy. We all remember her chignon, her vocalizations, her singing and articulation exercises specific to her, which very quickly became her signature, covered, repeated, viral before their time.
I grew up and I came to Paris. A few years later, my path again crossed that of Armande. It was at the preview of a portrait on Violette Leduc, it was there in the room after the screening that I saw Armande. She was as I remembered: she wore a big black dress, a shawl, lace, a thick bun and her face redesigned with blusher, lipstick, talcum powder… Like a painting. We were in his neighborhood, that of Les Halles, his baroque and romantic look, his elaborate makeup and his plastic shoes and jewelry intrigued me.
Later, I will follow her countless times, camera in hand, in the tagged streets of Les Halles, with her baroque dresses and her childish jewellery, filming Armande in the city as if to catch a piece of the soul of the capital. . I will also discover his musical career, underground, explosive. But when I was watching Armande at the back of the room, I didn’t know all that about her, I simply felt her: she carried a message, through her make-up, her clothes, there was a word far beyond beyond appearance and thought I could find it. I sensed something about her that echoed in me. I went to see her, I introduced myself to her and I asked her if she was okay with me doing her portrait. She wanted to know the angle, “I do not know yet”, I answered him. She took out her diary and she told me “Come on Monday, I have a birthday, you can start filming”. It was my first film as a director. I bought a camera, a directional microphone. I chose a model for Armande’s face, a little grainy, digital, a light, small model that she could easily forget and that suited me. An intimate, discreet camera to be closer to her and collect her words.
I had just lost my last grandmother, I needed to listen as she needed to tell. »
Titles played
– Kassam, Armande Altai
– Çok Özledim Anam, Hamiyet Yuceses
– The Song of the Sea, Armande Altai
– Message from Space, Armande Altai
– For You Alone, Armande Altai