Tell us something about your shooting? What pleasantly surprised you?
The shooting was very intense, we shoot the movie in three days ! It was a good challenge with a lot of decors, we moved a lot. We have an excellent team. I want to thank all the members of the shooting team for their intense work . I think the movie was very close to my imagination so it was a good shooting. The good surprise was the lighting of the first bar where we shoot the first scene. It was perfect to install a dystopic ambiance and to start the movie !
For what group of spectators is your film targeted?
It is open to everyone until 10 years old. I don’t think of target audiences when I do the movie. Everyone can be touched, like or hate the movie ! It is open to all the public, the public of science-fiction or “cinéma de genre” will like it but it is not targeted in this own direction. It is for all the curious peoples of the planet !
Why should distributors buy your film?
I think it will be interesting for them to buy the movie because it purpose something different in France. Another way to do cinema, to think, to feel things. The “cinema de genre” needs to be the new “nouvelle vague” in France, it is a new artistic way to do cinema. The public want him but it is not enough purposed in France by producers and distributors . 20 % of the public want to see “un film de genre” (fantastic, horror, science fiction) at the cinema in France but they have only 6% of this kind of movie ! It is a disaster ! Spectators are frustrated and after they watched the american movies in this kind of cinema ! It is the same for the creators , they don’t have enough resources so they shoot their movies in the United States or United Kingdom. We need to change our mentality because we have talent for purpose this kind of popular, entertainment and thinking cinema. It is actual, it is the future and we have french ways to develop cinema stories and purpose different things which are different of american cinema. “Le cinéma de genre” talks about our present , it is an author cinema who is underrated. We need to develop this kind of cinema in France for stay a very good country of cinema. It is the mission of the french directors and the french distributors.
How would you specify your work? What characterizes your film?
“Au delà de l’hygiène” is a dystopie close of our world with moments of contemplation and action. The film is a mix of naturalist and contemplative moments. I explore the intimate world of the main character Don Walsh who is trapped in this world. The moments of tension and contemplations are explored by synthwave music who is my hallmark. It is also an exploration of the violence : inside the society (with social conflicts) , the violence to become free of the main character and the violence of the oppression of the police to keep the power alive . It is the denonciation of the totalitarism. In my work, the violence is brutal like real life, it is the way of the characters to express themself . It is also an esthetic and artistic way to put rhythm inside a movie like notes of music.
Why did you decided to become a filmmaker?
I decid to become a filmmaker to express myself by the images and the emotions they provoke for the public. I want to purpose my own point of view in the world,
to explore imagination and new universes. Filmmaking is a spiritual way to discover the world, to put yourself instead of the characters, to better understand
the immensity of the world and the point of view. It is a way to understand and explore life before dying. André Bazin says making movies is like create sarcophagus , the movies will stay after our own deaths and to keep a footprint in the world. The actors dying and the stories stay in the screen. It is a way to celebrate life and death.
Who is your role model?
My role model is Nicolas Wending Refn. I love this movies and this artistic way to express violence. I love also the way that he is in industry but stay an real artist.
He says for every movie “you need to take a new aquarium and break it” ! It is creativity, you don’t have purpose everytime the same thing, you need to take
risk and break the thing you build. Everybody wants him to directed “Drive 2 “, he know it will be a disaster to do the same thing and he purpose “Only God Forgives” and love it ! It was different that every body expected ! You need to create the surprise for the audience, to choke the public ! I think the most important is to take risks for create new movies and not to stay inside your comfort zone. In life, I also love a sportif “Olivier Giroud” , a french footballer for his mental and the ability to stay focus and not let go. It is not important what peoples say about you and your art, the most important is to create a new way to express yourself
and new movies. I also finish by a citation of Nicolas Wending Refn : “ Art is made to divide, because if art doesn’t divide, it doesn’t penetrate, and if it doesn’t penetrate, you just consume it”.
Which movies are your favorites? Why?
My favourite movie is “Lost Highway” directed by David Lynch. I loved the ambiance, the fact that the movie is a loop and the end can be the first scene and
the inverse is also true! I find it fascinating and the way David Lynch explorate the dreams and the nightmares of the main character is fabulous! It his best
movie ! I love also Donnie Darko for the mixing of the different genders of movies (fantastic, comedies, horror …) ! It is so surprising, creative , funny and we can’t expected that ! It is a master piece with an amazing Jake Gyllenhaal for his first role . I love also the Billy Wilder comedy “ Kiss me stupid” for the quality of the
dialogues , for the rhythm and the playing of the actors. It is a very actual film who denonciate the hypocrisy inside a relationship. I love also “Sylvia Scarlett” of Georges Cukor for the thinking about genders, it was also very actual for the epoque and don’t understanding, it was 1935 ! Terrence Malick is a genius of image , “Tree of Life” is just amazing and an amazing experience of cinema !
Where do you look for inspiration for your films?
Inspiration is everywhere. Sometimes is when I read a book, see a painting, listening music, writing about a theme . Something is provocated, the images started and I start to write. And when I write a lot, it is a good sign. David Lynch says we have to capt ideas like fishs, we don’t know where it forms but we have to capt them ! I think the most interesting ideas are personals. We need to be touched personally for have a point of view . It is essential to do the movies not for a public or for the others but for yourself ! I know i am touched by movies when I see the point of view of the director when he talks about personal thinks. It is the best movies! When you see a personal view of director, it is an author movie , it is not depend of the gender of the movie.
