Bouli Lanners - Defending people and their environment

This article is taken from the "Issues" section of the September 2024 issue of Omalius magazine.

This hasn't always been the case in my career, but today, yes, I can say that I'm a message carrier. It's not something I set out to do, but my profession means I've become a public person whose speeches and messages are also part of the public sphere. And over time, I've come to realize that the opportunity that comes with this status has meaning and impact. But I weigh my words, I limit my actions. I choose my battles.

Those that fit in with my societal vision. It has many chapters. But I'd say the ones that touch globally on environmental causes mobilize me. For example, with battles that touch on energy and the fight against nuclear power, but also agriculture. I'm also sensitive to healthcare and social security issues.

Yes, that's one of the riches of this profession. For example, in the film "Réparer les vivants", I play this doctor who has to convince parents whose son dies following a car accident to donate their child's organs. Although I was already sensitive to the issue of organ donation, this film enabled me to understand its sensitivity and necessity. I also opened my eyes to the world of healthcare, acting in the series "Hippocrate" where I play an emergency room head doctor. We filmed in a real hospital in the Paris region. We rubbed shoulders with the staff and patients. We saw the lack of resources.So there are narrative elements that became real. It's a real eye-opener. It's eye-opening, and it gives you that desire to fight for causes beyond the camera.

Humor is necessary: it's the oil that keeps the machine running. I use it a lot in my job, in my commitment. Humor and tenderness somehow open up something in the diaphragm that makes us more receptive to what we hear, what we listen to. When we cry or laugh, our heart opens up, especially to new ideas.

Not enough, and I'd like to be more. We should all be much more involved in the causes that touch us, that motivate us. What I do isn't enough. I only do what is expected of a public figure. There are some causes that are less popular than others, and I'd like to get more involved in them in the future. I'm thinking, for example, of the fight against nuclear power or the fight against liberalism. These are battles in which we make enemies, but which in my eyes are necessary for the future of our society.

My school career has been rather chaotic, and this has made my parents suffer. So to receive the insignia of Doctor Honoris Causa from your university is on a personal level extremely gratifying. I often think that prizes or awards are useless. But this kind of recognition is valuable. It gives legitimacy to my speeches, my fights, the messages I need to get across because I've become a public figure.

Bouli Lanners is himself sensitive to the teaching of cinema: his films are often selected for "le prix lycéen du cinéma" and he has already come to the University of Namur to meet secondary school teachers in continuing education on cinema.

This title is, for me, a way of thanking him for this investment too. In keeping with the theme of "being the voice of others", I would also say that the characters he plays in his films or those of others (from Benoît Mariage's "Les convoyeurs attendent" to Thomas Lilti's "Hyppocrate" series) touch us because they are often fragile, sometimes marginal, sometimes committed and always imbued with humanity."