Climax
"The film was a spontaneous, but above all, collective creation. Everyone contributed their ideas: the dancers, the cinematographer, the set designer, the choreographer. It was all done with joy. Two months later, we finished editing and immediately showed it at the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes. What's really strange is that on the day of the film's presentation, Serge Catoire and I looked at each other and said, "It's impossible that we did this in such a short time!" Yet the result was effective. It's a bit like a woman getting pregnant and, after four months, being told, "We have to deliver the baby now because otherwise it will die" and then it's perfectly fine when it's born, as if nine months had passed. After Cannes, I had to do some touch-ups to the sound mixing and color grading, work on the posters, and so on. But now it's early September; it hasn't even been a full nine months since then." I've started working on it, but all the after-sales service is already finalized. I'd like to be working on another film already because, for once, I think this film stands on its own very well. The child is strong enough to run on its own." GN
"In life, whether it's relationships, love, family, artistic creation, and even though filmmaking is a rather collective endeavor, like a football team, you always know what worked based on how you did it. The more time goes on, the more I enjoy creating on set and the less I enjoy storyboarding or writing dialogue, for example. In fact, every time I make a film, it's always the sequence that wasn't in the script and was decided at the last second that I like the most. Here, people came with their own flair. Climax is the most collaborative work I've made to date. Even my father tells me it's his favorite film, and many directors have told me it's my best film. I've never prepared something so little, and I've never received so much praise." GN
"Perhaps I need to put my ego aside even more and instead find ways to realize all the hidden potential in reality, right in front of me. Regarding upcoming projects, I really want to make documentaries, at least one, using all the techniques of fiction filmmaking as I know it. The point is to formalize reality without starting, as with fiction, with a beginning, a middle, and an end that I've decided in advance. I'd like to immerse myself in the unknown. I know the language, I know how to shape it all, but I want to start with real events and fall in love with the subject, with the people I find there. That was somewhat the case in this film. From the kid to Sofia and Kiddy, and all the dancers in between, these are people I was deeply happy to film. I fell in love with them! They all fascinated me." GN
