Jean-François Laguionie is one of the greatest French animated film directors. His filmography is crossed by numerous works anchored in the maritime universe, including his latest film “Slocum et moi”. The show Littoral followed him throughout its creation period. The result is a touching film: “The Imaginary Sailor”.
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Jean-François Laguionie, one of the masters of animated cinema, returns to the spotlight with an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival for his film “Slocum et moi”. Almost 50 years later Rowing across the Atlanticwhich earned him the Palme d’Or for short film in 1978.
For years, eight years of production, Jean-François Laguionie, the director of the moving Louise a Hiverworked on his new animated feature film “Slocum and I”. This film draws on his childhood memories and pays tribute to his father, a passionate man who dedicated his life to building a boat in the family garden, although he never went to sea himself. This achievement was a replica of the sailboat of Joshua Slocum, the first navigator to sail around the world solo at the end of the 19th century.
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Between his dreams of adventure and a tender look at his parents, young François goes from childhood to adulthood. At the beginning of the 1950s, in the family garden on the banks of the Marne, Pierre began construction of the replica of the Spray, the legendary sailboat on which Joshua Slocum completed the solo circumnavigation of the world which made him famous in 1895. Are enlisted for the opportunity in this adventure his wife Geneviève and his son François. The latter has just turned 11… He is passionate about this project and for the tutelary figure of Slocum, symbols of freedom.
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©Jean-François Laguionie. Anik Le Ray Production JPL films and Mélusine Productions
Both an epic story and personal introspection, this new cinematic adventure was the ideal opportunity to meet Jean-François Laguionie. From his earliest childhood to his most recent works, he has always had the sea as a source of inspiration. At least that’s what director Pierre-François Lebrun had anticipated. And he was right…
From this meeting between the filmmaker and the documentary director was born the documentary film The imaginary sailor co-produced by JPL Films to see on the France.tv platform
(Interview carried out in 2022).
How was this desire film born with the animated filmmaker Jean-François Laguionie?
I knew the work of Jean-François Laguionie, especially after his last film Louise a Hiver which really touched me. There is already a portrait film dedicated to the filmmaker. But I found it interesting to delve into this strong relationship that the director seemed to have with the sea.
-Jean-François Laguionie is a discreet person. He is a gentleman who works alone in his house in Trédarzec, opposite Tréguier in Côtes-d’Armor. We had to convince him to open up about his journey and the work he was doing with this largely autobiographical film devoted to his childhood and the navigator Slocum.
“Slocum et moi”, next animated feature film by Jean-François Laguionie is a largely autobiographical film, was it also an interesting entry to follow the filmmaker at that time?
I think Jean-François Laguionie had this project in mind for a long time. He imagined this little boy fascinated by boats (which is none other than him) and by the character of Slocum to largely tell his own story. His young hero lives on the banks of the Marne, where he himself grew up.
At the age of 11 or 12, Jean-François Laguionie had a transport pass which allowed him to go to the Maritime Museum in Paris almost every Sunday. There, he designed boats. Those were his first subjects. His universe was already very centered towards the sea.
With my documentary film “The Imaginary Sailor”, it’s like this, I was able to open a trunk where together, we were going to dig through things from his childhood and trace the thread to better perceive everything that links him to the sea. And finally, there are a lot of elements which undoubtedly predestined him to seek the sea all his life.
How did the filming of the documentary “The Imaginary Sailor” go? ?
Filming took place over several months. At 83, he still works a lot, at his own pace. He devoted three days a month to me. We had spaced out meetings which allowed me both to follow the creation of his film “Slocum” and also, at the same time, to progress in the “course of his life” during our interviews. I told him, “today we are going to talk about your first short film”. And he told… This parallel was very interesting.
Are there any similarities between the character of Slocum and the filmmaker Jean-François Laguionie?
Yes, I noticed that. I read Slocum’s diary and became passionate about this unusual sailor myself. We can very well imagine the character, a sailing sea captain pushed into retirement with the arrival of steam engines in international maritime trade. He suffered this shock like many other sailors. A little embittered, he decides alone to rebuild a boat to cross the Atlantic and finally, he sets off to travel around the world. The newspaper recounts the events, the pirate attacks, the storms… with a lot of derision. There is a kind of “American phlegm” that is quite funny…
By reading this diary, I understood the way in which Jean-François Laguionie was able to become attached to this character, as he himself approaches life, without “pathos”. I also saw his process of continuing to cling to his pencil as Slocum could cling to the sailing ship. There is definitely something like that.
Find all Littoral broadcasts on the France.tv platform
