Retirement not an option for French veteran in Venice

The 86-year-old director has been shooting pictures for almost seven decades and won Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars way back in 1967 for "A Man and a Woman". Given the title of his new movie, cinema buffs in his native France speculated that it might be his swan song, but Lelouch told reporters he was eager to carry on working.

Veteran French filmmaker Claude Lelouch has denied suggestions that his latest movie, "Finally", which premieres at the Venice Film Festival on Monday, will be his last. The 86-year-old director has been shooting pictures for almost seven decades and won Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars way back in 1967 for "A Man and a Woman".

Given the title of his new movie, cinema buffs in his native France speculated that it might be his swan song, but Lelouch told reporters he was eager to carry on working. "I know I'm making my last films, of course, so I'm going to call this one 'Finally,' but I'm going to make another one called 'Finally, It Never Ends,'" he told a news conference.

"As long as ideas keep coming to my mind, I'm going to keep doing this job, and right now, I've never had so many ideas, so I can't wait for next year to start filming," he added. "Finally" is a comedy drama that follows a lawyer, played by Kad Merad, on a cross-country road trip in France as he seeks to find new meaning to his life. The ensemble also includes Elsa Zylberstain, Sandrine Bonnaire and singer Barbara Pravi.

The movie is being shown out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, where Lelouch is also set to receive a special Filmmaker Award. "Life is like a race. ... In the final moments of this race, you need to speed up, not slow down," Lelouch said.

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