“Between Two Chairs” is a series in three episodes, but also a story of perseverance. “The idea came during the Hendaia film festival – a festival of short films on cultural, linguistic and social diversity – to organize a screenwriting course with patients from the Hospital. A Health Culture file was submitted to the regional health agency, the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region in order to obtain co-financing,” explains Jean-Michel Giansanti, socio-cultural facilitator at the Marin Hospital. AP-HP.
The project, one of whose ambitions is to promote exchanges and partnerships between the worlds of health and culture, could then begin.
At the end of 2019, six patients in temporary rehabilitation stays at the Ribadeau-Dumas department of the Marin hospital became screenwriting interns under the direction of Lætitia Mikles, a professional screenwriter and director. They were supported by the department’s animation team.
An inverted world
Collaborative creative work continued in 2020 by videoconference, due to Covid and because the screenwriter trainees mostly live far from Hendaye. From this “Badeau story”, four scenarios imagined by the trainees alone or in pairs emerged. Finally, two merged to give the plot of “Between Two Chairs”.
“We loved this story of propulsion into an inverted world. A daily experience full of self-mockery, where we put ourselves in the other’s shoes”
The film tells the story of an able-bodied inventor living in a world of wheelchair-bound disabled people, without any chairs. “We can easily imagine the comical situations caused by these reversed roles… You arrive at a bistro, a restaurant or a cinema and there are no chairs…” The next step of the project consisted of finding financial partners as well as a film producer. “But we had to rewrite this script and embellish it so that our story would be attractive to film professionals,” says Jean-Michel Giansanti.
A shoot in September
A call for tenders was launched at the end of which the audiovisual production company DuoMotion was selected. At the beginning of June, Richard Bertholet’s team came to Hendaye for a few days of location scouting in preparation for filming in September in Hendaye.
“We loved this story of propulsion into an inverted world. A daily experience full of self-mockery, where we put ourselves in the other person’s shoes. A way of changing our perspective, an invitation to reflect with humor.”
The film “Between Two Chairs” will be broadcast as widely as possible. Of course during the Hendaia film festival but also in Cannes for the new “Entre deux Cannes” festival dedicated to disability situations. “We will also involve students from the aesthetic section of Aizpurdi high school and are looking for extras. »
