A man must find the courage to deliver unspeakable news to his girlfriend after she wakes from an accident-induced coma. SPEECHLESS is a sensitive and compelling portrait of the limits of love in confronting loss and grief.

Interview with Director Alexis Fortier Gauthier

Watch Speechless on Short.ly

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

The project was an initiative of the National Theater School of Canada. They wanted to showcase the talent of their students through the medium of cinema. So the project was an initiation for them and an occasion for me to work with untamed performers.

The story was written by a friend, who wanted to talk about the time she spent at the hospital, recuperating from a minor stroke. Her inability to speak, the stillness of the left side of her body. I brought in the accident side to it and a little of visual poetry with the ladybug.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

The movie is tackling a very touchy subject, very emotional. I think the appeal of the movie is in it’s realness, it’s muted atmosphere. It also contains great acting pieces, especially from Mounia Zahzam, who plays the bedridden girlfriend.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

It’s a movie about grief, about the difficulty to say the hardest news. How do you break the news that you know will shatter somebody else’s heart.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?

The script evolved, like most of them do, during the writing stage up until the shoot. It was mostly the focus that was tightened and we concentrate the time frame of the story into a single day, to compress the drama and focus on smaller details. There was a lot more humor in the script that we ended up cutting in editing, because the short running time of the movie couldn’t sustain wide mood changes or emotional misdirection. The subject was too serious to be trivialized by our attempts at humor.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

People have been really touched by the story. It’s a heavy film, that can be claustrophobic at times, but its heart is at the right place. There is a softness about it.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

It’s always interesting to be able to talk about our films. It’s always interesting to have a way of making them more available. We spend a lot of time making them and usually don’t get to have a real conversation around the making of it, about its themes.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We are trying to get as many festivals as possible to program it. Selling it to television would be nice, getting a wider audience.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I’m being realistic about the impact of short films in general. I hope to touch people who see it. I hope it will be a part of a greater filmic exploration for me, a chapter of a bigger book. It’s about exploring new narrative avenue, stylistic approach and visiting new themes. Learning, creating.

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I’m about to release a collaborative feature film Of ink and blood in theaters in December. I’m also working on two new short films and developing a second feature to be shot (hopefully) next summer.

Interview: November 2016

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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SPEECHLESS

A man must find the courage to deliver unspeakable news to his girlfriend after she wakes from an accident-induced coma. SPEECHLESS is a sensitive and compelling portrait of the limits of love in confronting loss and grief.

Length:

13 minutes

Director:

Alexis Fortier Gauthier

Producer:

François Bonneau

Writer:

Sarah Lalonde

About the writer, director and producer:

Quebec City filmmaker Alexis Fortier Gauthier is the director of AFTER ALL (APRÈS TOUT), which won the Genie for Best Live Action Short Drama in 2008.

Key cast:

Léo LOISEL

Mounia ZAHZAM

Maxime Dugas

Ninalou Boulebsol

Funders:

National Theater School of Canada and By-Pass films

Made in association with:

Release date:

Where will it be screened in the next month?

Friday December 2nd at Whistler film festival in Canada