“Clos”, first film by Maxence Merle

“Clos” is the first film directed by Maxence Merle, a cinema degree student. “I have wanted to make films since I was very little,” says the young man. I watched a lot of short films on YouTube. And in primary school, I turned to theater. But I always wanted to do a career in cinema. »

Decisive encounters

Maxence’s project began to take shape when he was in his final year: “I wanted to talk about the anxiety, the madness that could lie behind it. Then, the theme of homosexuality, of coming out arose. »

To find his actors, he launched a call on social networks. “In fact, a friend of a friend told me that he was up for it,” says the young director. And the second actor is a friend I had on Instagram. » The two main roles found, it was in Ambert and particularly at the Youth Forum that the director sought support. “I made a call to the Forum before finding my second actor. » Finally, Maxence and the Youth Forum worked together to move the project forward: association for fundraising, use of premises for a briefing of actors and technicians, multiple connections to find the skills necessary for production.

On the technical side, Maxence was able to count on Kevin Gourbeyre, cameraman, who filmed and edited the short film. The music was also composed by an Ambertois: “Helfry is his artist name,” explains Maxence. He was at high school in Ambert and is now studying in Paris. »

For Maxence, ultimately, the most complicated thing was communicating about his film. “For the rest, the filming, everything was rather instinctive,” he says. I was passionate, very motivated and very well supported. »

The screening of the short film, supported by the Ciné-Club d’Ambert, will be followed by the making of film, directed by Martial Delorme, then an exchange with the film team.