When did you start making films and what was the first film project that you worked on?
I started filmmaking in 2013 with the short « Et maintenant on va où ? », it has been selected for Cine-Poket Film Festival at Namur in Belgium in September 2013 where it has been screened. The challenge was to make a short maximum duration was 1’30secondes.
What inspired you to make GAB?
What motivated me to write and direct this film is especially the tragic events that have affected France since January 2015 with Charlie Hebdo’s attack in Paris. It was an attack against freedom of expression, and for us artists it is like the air we breathe, without freedom of expression we cannot work.
Also seeing the amalgams around these events, I decided to write a scenario that could refocus the West on its real values, ones of freedom, respect & cohesion. To develop this theme I needed a common symbol who unit everybody and the only one I found was the tree of life present in all beliefs.
The values conveyed in this symbol are so huge that to talk about it was enough to reach my goal.
That symbol helped me to expose philosophically that one of the biggest problem in those days, terrorism. It also helped me to take care of the different point of view which allowed me to a reach a balance, a conclusion that I was hoping should make everyone agree.
It’s important to know that being aware of a problem may not help to avoid the consequences but can avoid the worst.
What is the genre that you are looking to create in your films?
The principal genre that I target is Sci-Fi, because I love Sci-Fi, you can talk about difficult subjects in imaginary worlds with fantastic characters without offending anyone. And sometimes it makes it easier to get difficult messages across.
Do you consider yourself an indie filmmaker? Why?
In any case in France I consider myself completely Indie filmmaker because that kind of subject I treat is not easy for a conventional producer to assume it. That’s really disturbing subjects. And my view of writing, directing, acting doesn’t suit french producers. I talk about french producers because I don’t know what is the case elsewhere.
Do you think that cinema could change the way people think?
Yes completely because everyone in his life has been influenced by a movie. Sometime a movie could contribute to change our behavior. With GAB I received comments who touched me, globally people said « After watching GAB I changed my point of view about that subject. ». That show that cinema is important to help people to understand subjects who exceed them. In any case in those days it’s by this way that culture is transmitted to us. That’s why we need inside cinema not only cultivated but also scrupulous people who dares to put things in their place by saying truth.
Can you name a few filmmakers who inspired your work?
I can’t talk about filmmaking without quoting Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, George Lucas, Akira Kurosawa, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott or James Cameron, all are & were the best in what they did. I can say, with Luc Besson, they are the ones who inspired me in my work. Luc Besson have a special place for me because I had the chance to be in his masterclass in 2014. His advices really changed my view of filmmaking. It helped me to improve. But all these filmmakers inspired me in all my works.
How does it feel to write and direct at the same time?
I can say it’s easy to direct a film that you wrote because you know the univers inside your script. You exactly know how to lead the actors, and the technical crew. And it’s a pleasure. When you must direct a script you don’t write, it’s always difficult because sometime the author doesn’t want to change the script. Because a director will always want to enrich the script to make it better in the screen.
Do you plan to work on a feature film or are you interested to continue making short films?
I plan to continue to make shorts, my next short is a Sci-Fi Drama named KATRINA who talks about rape, IVF, identity crisis, adoption and in global women rights. But to do it I need a producer. Otherwise if I manage to have the means I would like to make one of my feature films « break in point » a sci-fi feature film. The subject of this sci-fi is about the world of an addicted person.
How difficult is it to screen short films and find an audience for short film projects?
The biggest difficult is the subject. For example in France, except French American festivals, no festivals has deigned to screen GAB. Although it’s a hot topic that concerns the country, and above all it’s a 100% French production. Only Fantastic’arts event in Gerardmer in France asked me the film but they didn’t want to include GAB in the screening.
Why do you want to make films?
I think the future of the world depends of cinema and which we transmit through our works. And if we want to contribute to change the world with making it better, it’s indisputable we need cinema.
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