Gérard Jugnot, jury chairman of Masters de Feu 2018

It was a presence that immediately set the tone for the 2018 edition. For the third edition of Masters de Feu, held at the Compiègne racecourse, Gérard Jugnot was chosen to chair the jury of the international fireworks competition. Actor, director, screenwriter and producer, he was a particularly fitting choice for an evening whose theme was “The emotions of cinema”.

Against the sky of Compiègne, three nations were called upon to compete in pyrotechnic inventiveness: Poland, Canada and France. The stakes were high for the fireworks houses in contention: to claim the 2018 Silver Master and thus reach the grand final of the 2019 Gold Masters. In this event, where technical precision must serve emotion, the jury’s gaze plays an essential role. By entrusting the presidency to Gérard Jugnot, Masters de Feu asserted a clear ambition: to bring together pyrotechnic spectacle, musical storytelling and cinematic imagination.

A 2018 edition conceived as a declaration of love to cinema

The theme chosen for this third edition, “The emotions of cinema”, opened up a vast artistic field for the pyrotechnicians. It was not simply a matter of launching beautiful colors into the night, but of composing true tableaux capable of giving rise to tension, tenderness, laughter, nostalgia or wonder. Cinema, an art of rhythm and editing, offers pyrotechnics a natural stage: each sequence must appear at the right moment, each silence matters, each musical rise calls for a luminous response.

In this context, Gérard Jugnot’s presence made perfect sense. An essential figure in popular French cinema, he is associated with several generations of viewers, both through his work with the Splendid troupe and through roles and films that have become familiar to the general public. His world, often marked by humanity, fantasy and direct emotion, resonated with the spirit of an evening designed to move a wide audience without compromising artistic standards.

Masters de Feu 2018 was therefore not presented as a simple technical competition. The contest invited the teams to tell, in just a few minutes, a story made of music, colors, effects and breath. Pyrotechnics became a language of cinema under the open sky: wide shots, accelerations, ruptures, final bursts, contrasts and ensemble movements.

Gérard Jugnot, an ideal jury chairman

Choosing Gérard Jugnot to chair the jury meant associating the event with an immediately recognizable personality, but also with an artist accustomed to judging the right pace, the right scene and the right emotion. A competitive fireworks display, when choreographed to a soundtrack, follows a precise dramaturgy: it must create atmosphere, surprise, keep the audience alert, then conclude with force without falling into excess.

This cinematic perspective was invaluable in deciding between the proposals from Poland, Canada and France. The success of a show depends not only on the power or quantity of effects. It also lies in the coherence of the composition, the finesse of the transitions, the balance between intensity and poetry, and the way each pyrotechnic product serves the artistic intent. In an edition devoted to emotions, the jury chairman’s sensitivity provided a true guiding thread.

Gérard Jugnot was not simply announced as a guest personality. His involvement was woven into the evening’s very structure, as he was also due to take part in a closing moment inspired by the world of “Les Choristes”, a work to which his name remains closely linked. This connection between cinematic memory and pyrotechnic writing reinforced the identity of the 2018 edition: a popular, elegant, unifying spectacle designed to speak to the collective imagination.

A jury made up of personalities and experts

Alongside Gérard Jugnot, the jury brought together several figures from entertainment, media, sport, culture and the Compiègne area. Announced members included Sandra Lou, TV host and producer; Philippe Candeloro, Olympic medalist in figure skating; Jean-Marc Solbes, organizer of the Cannes pyrotechnic art festival; Jérémy Charvet, singer and actor; and Sophie Goupil, producer and documentary filmmaker.

The jury also included Philippe Marini, mayor of Compiègne; Antoine Gilibert, president of the Compiègne Race Society; and Amandine Coclez, 2018 Queen of Lily of the Valley. This lineup perfectly illustrated the DNA of Masters de Feu: combining the eye of entertainment professionals, the experience of personalities used to the stage or the screen, and the local roots of an event that has become an important fixture in Compiègne’s late-season calendar.

Jean-Marc Solbes’ presence brought expertise directly related to high-level pyrotechnics, while the profiles from cinema, television, music and sport made it possible to assess the emotional and spectacular impact of the creations. At Masters de Feu, a winning show must convince through mastery, but also through its ability to win over both the audience and the jury.

Poland, Canada, France: three visions of fireworks in competition

The 2018 edition brought together three fireworks houses representing three countries: Surex for Poland, Apogée for Canada and Grand Final for France. Each had to offer a personal interpretation of the imposed theme. This international face-off lies at the heart of the Masters de Feu concept: to place different skill sets, distinct visual signatures and sometimes highly contrasting pyrotechnic traditions on the same open-air stage.

Poland, Canada and France do not necessarily approach fireworks with the same rhythms, colors or narrative habits. This diversity is what makes the competition so compelling. The audience does not merely attend a succession of tableaux: it discovers schools, temperaments and different ways of making the sky vibrate. The Silver Master thus rewards a complete performance, capable of combining technical excellence, artistic clarity and emotional force.

For the participating teams, the stakes went beyond the evening in Compiègne. The 2018 winner earned qualification for the 2019 Gold Masters, the grand final bringing together the laureates of previous editions. This principle gives the competition a clear progression: each edition builds toward the next level, until the final showdown of the best crowned performances.

Compiègne, an open-air stage for an international competition

Since its creation, Masters de Feu has worked to make Compiègne a spectacular stage for international pyrotechnics. The racecourse offers a particularly suitable setting for this kind of event: a vast space, generous visibility and the atmosphere of a major gathering. Once night falls, the venue changes dimension. Eyes turn upward, the music sets the narrative, and the sky becomes the main screen.

The 2018 edition was part of this ambition: to offer an evening of the highest level, accessible to the general public, yet built with genuine rigor in the selection process. A successful pyrotechnic competition relies on invisible organization, made up of safety, synchronization, meticulous preparation and coordination between technical teams. The final show, in turn, must appear fluid, almost effortless. It is this alliance of rigor and magic that makes Masters de Feu unique.

With Gérard Jugnot as jury chairman, the third edition strengthened the link between popular culture and pyrotechnic creation. Choosing cinema as the imposed theme made it possible to speak to everyone, while giving the pyrotechnicians demanding artistic material. Between international competition, collective emotion and tribute to the 7th art, Masters de Feu 2018 thus confirmed its ability to turn a fireworks evening into a true cultural event.