So. The main thing is said, at the beginning of this adventure, or almost. Just a few words are missing about the one who started it all. A trained journalist, Jean-Baptiste Bagaria is, above all, passionate about cinema and theater. He attended the conservatory, where his teacher was Christian Gonon of the Comédie Française. In that life, he responded to Mathieu KassovitzIn The legends officeor even played a small role in the web series The rituals. It was therefore quite naturally, on the sets, that he had the revelation :
That's when I realized that in fact, what I wanted, what I really wanted, was to write, direct and direct.
Jean-Baptiste Bagaria, director.
A passion which, according to him, allows him no compromise : “I really want to create what I want and what I like. That’s why I keep my job as a journalist. To be totally free and independent in the films I want to make”.
This explains this little “eccentricity” of shooting with a smartphone and in 13 days : “It took me five years to write 'The Quest'. I didn't want to make any concessions. I wanted to do things the way I had thought them. It imposed itself on me. It's something that runs through me and I have to do it. Make “The Quest” the way I wanted it and not the way a producer or a financial partner would have wanted it to be. I did this for myself, but also for those who. who trusted me, who helped me carry out this project and, even more, for those who believed in it.”
“The quest” is a quest, an odyssey. Even if it wasn't easy.
An odyssey of sorts, indeed !
If it is only this Ulysses does not succumb to the charms of the siren song and that his faithful companions followed him until the end of the adventure. “We did everything alone. We were a group of twenty actors and eight technicians. HAS 70%, we shot all the scenes outdoors ! In addition to my work as a director, I even helped make the costumes, that's to tell you ! I also did the driver, the decorator ! Each of us has gone well beyond our basic function.”
The day after the screening, the film team hoped to find distributors to increase screenings in other cities.
To reach the location of the filming of the scene of “Tyson's Caravan” from the film “The Quest”, all the teams, actors and technicians, had to finish the way on foot, “in a fog that would cut with a knife” according to the director Jean-Baptiste Bagaria.
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© Jean-Baptiste Bagaria
“The first positive thing, at the end of the first screening, at the Paul Ceuzin space, in Tourrettes-sur-Loup, was that the mayor, the town hall communications officer and the residents loved the film. The municipality would also like to organize outdoor screenings this summer.
I was identified as a director. For me it's a real chance for the future.
A return which reassured the director in the merits of his creation. But it doesn't stop there. A few weeks later, the young filmmaker was invited to a meeting which brought together different people around the project. “The talents of the Côte d’Azur”. “It's great, now every two months, I am invited to these meetings where I can meet professionals. I am identified as a director and I can participate in calls for projects where different scenarios are presented to producers and directors. distributors. Being there for me is a real opportunity for the future.”
Good, but good !
We must not hide our faces. The cinema industry is not an easy world. Jean-Baptiste Bagaria is well aware of this: “Out of 100 distributors that I contacted, I only got 10 feedback. And all negative. But no one told me, 'well listen, you're nice, but your film is rotten'. So , I'm not giving up.”
Nothing to discourage him. The young director intends to persevere : “I think that this film has its place in an arthouse cinema. So, from the beginning of January, I am going to attack all arthouse cinemas in France. There are going to be some who will be interested. My idea, it's not necessarily to make money, it's for the film to be seen. I know it's a long way, especially when you're outside the system.
And to be outside the system, he's outside the system. This young screenwriter did not ask for any help. Neither in the Department nor in the Region. Nor to a production company. Nor at the CNC. He went there alone : “I went there in warrior mode. Free and independent. But I see that there are still limits. We must not lie to ourselves.”
Realistic and determined to get there, he is. And, if sometimes, a tiny doubt can creep in, all it takes is an anecdote told by his mother to give him back his faith. : “A few days ago, my mother met the artist George at the Christmas market in Tourrettes. She asked him about me and told him to tell me : “his film reminded me of the world of Cocteau”. I couldn't have been given a greater compliment. Especially coming from a sculptor, like her. It gave me a boost. And that made me want to keep going even more.”
Me, I'm ready to hit doors in the head. And again, when the door, it opens! It's part of the game.
And to add: “My film is called “The Quest” and I see it as a quest. Like an odyssey. I must follow my quest and my approach to the end, even if sometimes it is not easy. And, at some point, through hard work and perseverance, things come to fruition. I appeal to all arthouses.”
And the young director concludes: “The aim, when “The Quest” has been shown in the cinema, is to put the film on YouTube so that people from the village and the region, who are interested, can watch the film. For me, in fact, it's super important to be able to give it, to offer it to people. It's close to my heart. I won't give up.”
