What has been your journey so far?
I started as a carpenter, but cinema has always fascinated me. I bought a Super 8 camera to experiment with and little by little, I got behind the camera. I had the chance to work with Jean Marboeuf and Luc Jacquet for example, and to make short films on the theme of art, which has always attracted me. One day, a production company called me because the painter Charles Belle was looking for someone to do some takes. But from the first images, I understood that something stronger was happening.
Your movie Beyond the silences is the fruit of 16 years of filming with Charles Belle. How did this extraordinary project come about and evolve?
When we started, there was no idea for a film. At first, it was captures, but very quickly, there was already a mystery. I filmed, he painted, in his studio, but also outdoors. I filmed him in the forest, in the mountains, where he mounted his gigantic paintings, sometimes in difficult conditions. I never interfered with his work because it would have distorted what he was doing. We hadn't decided anything, it happened naturally, without a script, without a guideline and without ever knowing where it would lead us. It is neither a portrait, nor a biography nor a documentary on art. This film is truly a quest, an exploration.
What struck you most about Charles Belle?
This is his total commitment. When he starts a painting, he doesn't necessarily know where he's going. He doesn’t say to himself: “Here, I’m going to make a flower” or “I’m going to paint a tree.” » He advances, he experiments, he erases, he reconstructs. I remember a painting where he simply painted grass. At the beginning, we saw lines, paint on canvas. And then, I was absent to resolve a technical problem. When I came back, I looked at the canvas, and there I smelled wet grass, like a childhood memory. To go from raw material to something so sensory is incredible.
The film does not contain commentary. Why this choice?
Silence is something central to Charles’ work. When he paints, there are no words. But there's a lot going on. This is what I wanted to highlight, this inhabited silence. I wanted the viewer to be able to feel for themselves because by inserting comments, you are guiding, and that was not the goal. The music of Bernard Montrichard accompanies without taking over as well as the sounds of the workshop: the gestures, the breathing of Charles, sometimes the murmurs.
-The film returns to theaters after reaching a large audience last year. How are you experiencing this return?
Initially, we thought we would only do a few screenings. And finally, word of mouth worked and the sessions multiplied. Screenings resume this year. What touches me the most is the feedback from spectators. This film is an experience to live, not just to watch. There are people who tell me that they were upset without really knowing why and who come back to see the film. Each time, it moves me, because it goes beyond what we had imagined.
Beyond the Silences can be found at the Les Tanneurs cinema on January 21 at 8 p.m. in the presence of Charles Belle and François Royet, and January 24, 26 and 28.
B.B
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