Variety Lounge at Sarajevo Film Festival - Michel Franco - video Dailymotion

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00:00I almost forget it's a film festival it's hard to explain but it's above that

00:04first of all I came here with my first film in 2009 and I've been coming back

00:09pretty much every other year and I presented all my films so I feel like a

00:13part of the family of the festival so to speak I love the audience especially

00:17the young and enthusiastic audiences you know this is like a heaven for for film

00:22and we really need these spaces nowadays

00:30we're in the variety lounge at the Sarajevo film festival with Sarajevo

00:39favorite the Mexican director writer producer Michelle Franco this year you're

00:44presenting your ninth feature dreams starring Jessica Chastain and the

00:49wonderful ballet dancer Isaac Hernandez it's your second film with Jessica

00:54Chastain after memory did you write it especially for her I see she's also the

00:59executive producer I had the idea for a while for a few years I had a rough idea

01:06about dreams what it could be but only while we were shooting memory during a

01:11lunch break I told Jessica I have an idea I could adapt for us to do together five

01:17minutes into it she said it couldn't be more different than memory because she

01:23plays a completely different role plus we both really wanted to work together

01:27again so yeah we made two films back-to-back the power imbalance of the

01:33relationship between the two was really interesting but as far as illegal

01:38immigration and deportation aspects that felt like it was snatched from the news

01:44headlines do you regard yourself as a political filmmaker well I guess yes I mean

01:49even if if I'd like if I'd say no making films it's a political act and it

01:55affects a large number of people in all over the world whatever we do especially

02:01when working with with an actress like Jessica my main goal is to make a good

02:06film on my own terms in this case an intimate love story that goes you know to

02:15places that that love story shouldn't go to and that represent something bigger

02:20because of where it's set my main task is not a political or or you know I'm

02:26never preaching or educating or trying to change a balance of things because

02:31anyway takes such a long time to make a film that by the time it's out the whole

02:35political situation might have changed so much so I just made the film because as a

02:40Mexican always been worried and and dissatisfied with the way the power

02:45relationship between Mexico and the States yeah you know it's almost always

02:51putting Mexico down so I always wanted to make this film that surprised me how

02:55much graphic sex there was in the film did you and Jessica talk about how to do

03:03that do you use an intimacy coordinator or you just she says go and she goes we

03:08talked a lot about it the three of us also with the sack we had shot intimate

03:12scenes very different ones on memory because a character so different but on

03:17both films on either film we used intimacy coordinator just because we are very

03:22we feel very comfortable together Jessica and I we understand each other she

03:26trust me a big deal and it goes both ways and I think what's the most important

03:32thing is that I believe every scene every intimate scene on the film is there for a

03:37reason and it's pushing the story further and and has reasons you know it's not

03:44just for the sake of it and that each sex scene is very different the film

03:49couldn't be complete without them yeah it conveys the power relationships and the

03:55different points in the story absolutely this is a strange question but you were in

04:01Berlin in the competition with a film called dreams and there was another film

04:05called dreams and the competition did it cause any confusion well the other one

04:10picked the bigger one yeah exactly I got a call from the festival telling me look

04:15there's another film with the same title on the competition it's a trilogy and so on

04:19do you want to change the name of your film and I thought about it for you know I

04:23tried but I didn't have any other good option and I really liked the name so I just kept it

04:29previously you had a productive collaboration with the actor Tim Roth who starred in your

04:34films chronic and sundown what are the advantages of having a good working

04:38relationship with a high-profile actor my first non-mexican film was with Tim Roth I

04:46didn't have the ambition at the time to work in the States and he's he suggested we

04:50work together he and and and he protected me a big deal and he wanted me to work

04:56exactly like I did after Lucia but in the States and when the main actor either if

05:04it's Jessica or Tim has a is a strong leader and and you know a star the whole

05:12crew follows and that empowers the director a big deal so that I have with

05:17Tim and with Jessica and and it but more than that for me it's a strong

05:23collaboration I believe that we're making the film together and these two

05:28actors and also Peter Sarsgaard and Charlotte Gainsbourg great actors I work

05:32with they really understand what's in my mind and what's on the page it's a

05:37collaboration that goes beyond what people can imagine whenever I'm asked what

05:41actor I want to work with I just say I want to work with Tim again and with

05:45Charlotte and with Peter Sarsgaard and of course with Jessica so yeah I'm and even to

05:51to have film with them together that would be fantastic

Variety Lounge at Sarajevo Film Festival - Michel Franco

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