“I wasn’t used to these young people giving their opinions all the time”

At the Cabourg Festival where he received an honorary Swann, Daniel Auteuil presented a preview Thread, his fifth film as director. On the red carpet set up for the occasion in front of the city’s Grand Hôtel, the actor and director was, Friday evening June 15, surrounded by his producers Nelly Auteuil and Hugo Gélin. Regarding the genesis of his film, he says that it was the latter who approached him: “They came to see me telling me about a story they had seen in a blog by a lawyer called master Mô, and they told me in this blog there is a true story that would make an extraordinary film. The story in question? While he no longer takes criminal cases after having a murderer exonerated, Maître Jean Monier (Daniel Auteuil) ends up defending Nicolas Milik (Grégory Gadebois), a father accused of the murder of his wife. Convinced of his innocence, he will do everything to help him win his trial. “Daniel took up the challenge in about 3 seconds,” reveals Hugo Gélin before the person adds: “They gave me back the desire, the desire, to make cinema. All of a sudden, I felt carried, supported, desired, it touched me. But then, I wasn’t used to these young people giving their opinions all the time. It really annoyed me and then, little by little, I realized that these young people were often right and that’s so good.”

Two children of the ball

Grandson of the actor Daniel Gélin and the actress and producer Danièle Delorme, son of the producer Xavier Gélin, Hugo Gélin is the director of Like brothers, My stranger And Lupine. He founded his production company Zazi Films in 2009 and today works with Nelly Auteuil, daughter of Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Béart. “We like to produce people who have strong desires for cinema and it’s quite enjoyable to find directors who want that like us,” he explains. “I want to support someone who has something in them, in their head, in their heart, and who needs to bring it to the screen,” adds Nelly.

Read alsoNelly, the daughter of Emmanuelle Béart and Daniel Auteuil, from law school to red carpets

Among the different projects they are developing, the duo is currently working on Nina Rives’ first film, French lover, a romantic comedy carried by Omar Sy and Sara Giraudeau. Hugo Gélin and Nelly Auteuil, two children of the ball and cinema lovers like Daniel Auteuil, who reveals: “It’s an irrepressible driving force, I need this job, like being surrounded by people I love. This profession is also an act of love, it is weeks, months, of meetings, of passions, of exchanges. It’s something linked to life.”