“Totone, 18, spends most of his time drinking beers and going to dances in the Jura with his group of friends. But reality catches up with him: he must take care of his 7-year-old little sister and find a way to earn a living. He then sets out to make the best county in the regionthe one with which he would win the gold medal in agricultural competition and 30,000 euros. This is the synopsis of Twenty Godsfilm by the young director Louise Courvoisier which hits theaters on December 11.
This film, which Reussir.fr, was able to see in previewpaints a tender and rare portrait in the world of cinema of a rural youthand in particular of a young breederMarie-Lise, far from the usual clichés. All in the middle of county sector of Jura. Its director Louise Courvoisier takes us behind the scenes of this first feature film, which was very warmly received in agricultural high schools of the region.
Succeed: What is your personal relationship with the agricultural and rural world?
Louise Courvoisier : I grew up in Cressia, a small village in Jurain a farma little isolated, at the top of a hill. My parents, originally musicians, became farmers : they have a few crops that they work using animal traction with horses. Which has nothing to do with the agricultural world that I show.
I grew up in Cressia, a small village in the Jura, on a farm,
At school I was with children of farmersI have often frequented this environment. And then I left to study in Lyon then cinema in Paris and at the end of my studies I returned to the Jura to write my first feature film.
Succeed: What made you want to make this film?
Louise Courvoisier : I wanted a human approach, to talk about the young people with whom I grew up, with whom I went to the ball and to show the rural environment underrepresented in cinema. I wanted to make a territorial film around the Jura hence my idea of integrating the manufacturing of the county into the film.
Succeed: Where did you shoot the film, on which agricultural and fruit farms?
Louise Courvoisier: The scenes on Marie-Lise's farm were filmed at Frictionau Gaec de la Source in Val d’Epi near Saint Julien-sur-Suran. We also filmed Orgelet fruit farmto the cheese shop of Simandre-sur-Suran which had just ceased its activity, and Fort des Rousses for therefining. For the scene of milk collection At the start of the film we also filmed on a farm near Loisia.
Read also: “In the name of the Earth”: during filming, the milking robot continued to rotate
Succeed: You have worked with non-professional actors…
Louise Courvoisier : These are indeed non-professional actors, most of whom come from agricultural environment. Clement Faveauwho plays Totone (the main character, editor's note), is 18 years old and works in a poultry farming has Louhans (in the Bresse plain) of which he plans to become a partner.
Clément, who plays Totone, works on a poultry farm in Louhans […] Maïwène, who plays Marie-Lise, was in agricultural BTS in Vesoul
Maïwène Barthélémywho plays Marie-Lise, was in BTS agricole has Vesoul and worked in a dairy farm. His big brother in the film is farmer on his own in Moutonne in the Jura in milk in Comté. His other brother is also agricultural studies. An actor who plays one of Totonne's two friends (Mathis Bernard, editor's note) was in the world of green spaces and is now launching into acting.
Read also: Océane Balland, 21 years old, farmer: “I work 70 to 80 hours a week for an income of 1,500 euros”
Succeed: Why this choice?
Louise Courvoisier : I didn't want to cheat, I wanted to hear the Jura accent in particular and have real gestures.
The calving scene is authentic, we could never have achieved that with an actress
The scene of calving with Maïwène is authentic, we could never have achieved that with an actress. These non-professional actors bring so much naturalness.
Read also: Geoffroy Sery, farmer in the city and on screen in Albatros, film by Xavier Beauvois
Succeed: How did you go about casting?
Louise Courvoisier: I was helped by two casting directors: Léa Gallego and Emmanuel Thomas. They did wild castings at balls, comicsin agricultural high schools, talked about the film then shot small scenes. It was done in several stages. We met a lot of people, especially in the agricultural high schools.
They did wild castings at balls, comics, agricultural high schools
And then for the roles I took inspiration from people around me, we worked with farmers, cheese makers…. There was a lot of rehearsal work afterwards to make people forget about the camera.
Read also: Cinema: The Bertrand farm or the family destiny of dairy farmers in Haute-Savoie
Succeed: Your actress Maïwène Barthélémy was selected for the César Revelation for Women, will she continue in the cinema?
Louise Courvoisier: She is curious but she loves what she does, she wants to continue working in the farm. Afterwards we will see, to be selected for the female revelation opens a network. She's going to meet a lot of people.
Succeeding: How did she prepare for the calving scene and how did it go?
Louise Courvoisier : Maïwène returned to theexploitation where she worked, talked a lot with the farmers, prepared well.
A calving scene shot as an intimate scene
We spent a week on the farm, on call day and night, and we didn't know which cow it was going to fall on. L'farmer was behind “the combo”, there was a sound recordist, the cameraman and all the rest of the team was outside. We shot in a very small group as if for an intimate scene. There cow wasn't too stressed. We adapted to his pace. She calved in seven minutes. We did the scene in one go. Maïwène was very focused, she put in a real performance. That's what interested me: feeling the tension, seeing how she is concentrated on her technical movements.
Read also: In “L’amour vache”, Édouard Bergeon films the suffering of breeders who lose their herd
Succeed: How did you work on your character of the breeder, far from the clichés of women in the agricultural world?
Louise Courvoisier : I put a lot of care into it. As soon as we represent femininity we already have a responsibility to do it well without falling from one cliché to another. I was inspired byfarmers that I knew and Maïwène brought a lot to the character. I also adapted to her. I am very happy with his performance, the role was quite difficult in casting. I wasn't necessarily expecting it there. It's so good to work with non-professionals.
Read also: “Where is the boss? »: five farmers sketch sexism in the agricultural world
Succeed: You show youth facing difficulties, often alone, cut off from the adult world, why?
Louise Courvoisier : I wanted to make a film about these young people and represent them in their bubbles, left to their own devices. In the film we don't let go of the character of Totone.
Succeed: Does the malaise in the agricultural world affect you?
Louise Courvoisier : Beyond the agricultural environmentI wanted to make a film about the rural environment. I was able to leave my path, go to Paris, but some young people are not able to leave. They often feel crushed by their environment.
Rurality is often represented in poverty, drama, in cinema
But in the film I didn't want to crush them, I wanted to give them momentum and softness. There rurality is often represented in misery, drama, in cinema. I wanted to talk about the difficulties and bring a little hope to them.
Read also: Edouard Bergeon continues his peasant commitment through Cultive, a film and his TV channel
Succeed: A recent study conducted by Viarte for Hectar analyzed how the image of agriculture in Art is evolving and describes new artists from the rural world who bring a different, more realistic vision of the agricultural world. We feel that you are part of it, are you aware of it?
Louise Courvoisier : We sometimes have feelings, it makes me happy that it’s confirmed. What is missing is a representation of the rural world by people from rural world. Art can only do well to better represent agriculture.
Read also: “Let’s put art back at the heart of farms to change the representation of agriculture”
Succeed: Have you shown your film to agricultural professionals, students in agricultural high schools, what was the reception like?
Louise Courvoisier : We did a lot of screenings with students from agricultural high schools. They were very participatory, asked lots of questions. We also did a big tour of 17 dates in the region, in party halls. It was very interesting, it allowed an audience to access a film that concerns them.
We worked with a cheese coach and made Comté for real
We had very good reactions from people who were even a little surprised to be represented like that. It led to some pretty moving moments. It was also funny some cheese makers told us: “ at that moment it's not exactly at that temperature » or they were surprised that it was said that to make cheese you need rennet. But it has to be explained in the film. We worked with a cheese coach throughout the film and we made the county for real, it was important to film the textures.
Succeed: Do you think your film can help renew generations on farms? Do you feel that you give a good image to the sector?
Louise Courvoisier : I feel that it created real curiosity. Agriculture has rarely been shown from this angle. Young people see a positive and tender outlook, which makes them happy. I don't know if it will help renew generations but what is certain is that all the young people who participated in the filming feel well represented. And that’s cool. And in agricultural high schools, I rather have the impression of having met passionate people.
Read also: Deter: first episode of the series on an agricultural high school, first reactions
Succeed: The campaign is a character in itself that you film with love….
Louise Courvoisier : I wrote thinking about specific landscapes that I knew well. I wanted to highlight the landscape with a Wild West feel.
Often the countryside is shown as very naturalistic, a little ugly, with the camera on the shoulder. It's rare to see a beautiful image when we have perfect landscapes
Often the campaign is shown as very naturalistic, a little ugly, with the camera on the shoulder. It's rare to see a beautiful image when we have perfect landscapes. I wanted to highlight them with the right lights, at the right time.
Read also: The true cinema story of a farmer who saved his farm with a cabaret
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