Woody Allen is willing to return to New York “if someone is crazy enough” to finance it

Director Woody AllenBanished from the American film industry, he wryly promised at the Venice Film Festival on Monday to return to shooting in his New York City “if anyone is crazy enough” to finance it.

Allen went to Venice to present his 50th film, “Stroke of Luck,” shot in Paris in French, with French actors.

“When I was young, the films that impressed us the most were European, French, Italian, Swedish… We all wanted to make films like European ones”recalled the 87-year-old director to the press.

“Stroke of Luck” is presented out of competition at the Mostra, and it is Allen’s first film in a non-English language. “I feel like a real European filmmaker”added the filmmaker.

A multi-award-winning master of humor and social satire, Woody Allen has hardly worked in the United States in recent years, after accusations of sexual assault by Dylan Farrow resurfaced, whom he had adopted as a child with his ex-wife Mia Farrow.

The facts, which came to light in 1992, were investigated by the police and a US prosecutor, who exonerated Allen. The scandal, however, resurfaced in 2013, when Dylan accused Allen, now an adult, again.

When asked Monday about the idea of ​​returning to filming in New York, where most of his movies are set, Woody Allen quipped: “I have really good ideas for New York, and if someone comes out of the shadows and says ok, if they agree to give me the money and not meddle, ‘go for it!’he joked.

“If people are crazy enough to agree to that, I’ll make a movie in New York!” added.

“Stroke of Luck” is a drama of adultery and crime in a bourgeois environment, a recurring theme in Allen’s cinema, shot with the actors Lou de Laâge, Melvil Poupaud, Niels Schneider and Valérie Lemercier in the main roles.

With information from AFP