Juliet
Bored with the routine? Depressed by the thought of going to bed alone every night? Juliet is the first super-competent companion robot, and she´s waiting for you!
Interview with Director Marc-Henri Boulier
Watch Juliet on YouTube
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
“Juliet” was written late 2012. Back in those days, I was single for quite a few years, and getting tired of the whole “dating game” process. One fine day, I’ve decided to give a try on “dating website”, to find the mate I wasn’t able to find in real life. And the truth is, I was a bit disappointed, kind of shocked as well, because it seems that single women on these website didn’t look for a partner but only for a guy who says “yes”, basically a docile and silent doll (a woman, friend of mine, told me later the same story about men on these same dating site).
So I started to think about these companies, making a profit on exploiting loneliness and sometimes desperation, and imagine the next level: a corporate company creating and selling humanoid sex dolls for lonely and despairing customers. I thought the idea was great, you know, like the amusement park’s robots in the film “Westworld”, and “The Stepford Wives”, and it was a good way for me to make a film about our contemporary society.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
First of all, the film begins as a comedy, with a sense of irony, gradually adding some elements of drama. It is fully entertaining but not meaningless, reflecting on our society and the evolution of our relationship with technology…. and consumption!
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
When I’m writing a screenplay, I always work on ideas based on my own experience. Sometimes things I like or dislike, but which I would like to talk about (like dating websites…). My producer Anaïs Bertrand and I, share the same vision of cinema, especially genre movies and how we want to use genre to deal with universal themes. For me in “Juliet”, the robot is only a pretext, some kind of a metaphor to talk about our society, the man/woman relationship, consumption and mass behaviour. But it is also a way to deal with personal favourite themes of mine like conformism and fear of the other.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
Not that much actually. We’ve got feedback from different sources, based on the script’s first draft, and it appears that the main character “The Man” was underdeveloped and not totally satisfying for readers and future audiences. So we’ve added some new scenes with that character, to expand the fictional side of the film.
At the end of the day, the completed film is really similar to the script. Just one key scene, not planned during pre-production, was shot and added to the final editing, and another one was cut because it slowed down the ending.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The film has had a very positive response from film festivals internationally. People really enjoy it, reminding them of the english series “Black Mirror”. I wasn’t aware of that TV show when I wrote the script (I have seen it since), but me and my producer Anaïs, feel really honoured.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It is funny because sometimes, feedback is different from one country to another. For most people, the film is really a comedy with a bit of drama. But, for example, I was invited in a film festival in South Korea (Seoul’s Asiana Short Film Festival) and during the Q&A session, I realized that the audience experienced the film as a scary tale about our future. It was a bit confusing at first but, you know, at some point the film is not yours anymore. It belongs to the audience.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
The film has experienced a wonderful first year on film festival worldwide and we hope we could do another good year by gaining more visibility in countries where the film was never screened, like Australia... It is a great opportunity for us to make people discover our movie and to expand our network. We are really pleased and grateful for that.
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 looking for buyers, sales agents and distributors. We would also be pleased to get feedback from journalists. And of course it would be great if we could meet new partners (coproducers, etc.) for our next projects!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
“Juliet” is doing really well on the film festival circuit and people really like the film. We would be glad if the film became a reference in the future, some kind of a small classic in the short film world or a topic for a study in film schools for example.... I’m an animation film school teacher myself, and I enjoy sharing and studying animation short films I really liked with my students. So it would be great !
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Why look for the perfect mate when you can buy one?
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Our next project is called “Echoes”: it is my first feature film for Insolence Productions and we are currently developing the script. We are also working on ideas for a TV series.
Interview: August 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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JULIET
Bored with the routine? Depressed by the thought of going to bed alone every night? Juliet is the first super-competent companion robot, and she´s waiting for you!
Length: 12 minutes
Director: Marc-Henri Boulier
Producer: Anaïs Bertrand
Writer: Marc-Henri Boulier & Michaël Fagnot
About the writer, director and producer:
Writer/Director: Marc-Henri Boulier is as a video artist and filmmaker involved with schools, colleges, and associations dedicated to cinema and audiovisual organizations.
Producer: Anaïs Bertrand founded Insolence Productions in 2012 after a career as VFX producer on several feature films. To learn more, visit www.insolenceproductions.com
Key cast: Bruno Putzulu, Alix Benezech, Catriona MacColl, Patrick Eudeline
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): ALL!
Funders: CNC (French Cinema Center), Pictanovo, ADAMI, Procirep-Angoa
Release date: May 30th 2015 (first festival screening)
Where can I watch it in the next month?
In September, “Juliet” will be screened in film festivals in several countries :
- BUSHO – Budapest Short Film Festival (Hungary)
- Portobello Film Festival (London – UK)
- Trash Film Festival (Varazdin - Croatia)
- Cinefantasy international Fantastic Film Festival (Sao Paulo – Brazil)
- Psarokokalo - Athens Short Film Festival (Greece)
- Sose International Film Festival (Yerevan – Armenia)
- Arte Non Stop – Festival Internacional de Cine y Arte (Buenos Aires – Argentina)
French audience could actually spot reruns of the film on the Canal+ TV channels
The film is also available on VOD on vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/juliettheshortfilm/172325309
SELECTIONS
- Festival Bloody Weekend, Audincourt (France), May 2015 – Jury Special Mention
- NIFFF, Neuchâtel (Switzerland), July 2015
- Festival Fantasia, Montréal, August 2015
- The Monthly Film Festival, September 2015 - Best Film of the Month, Best Expérimental, Best Director, Best Editing
- Dark Matters Film Festival, Albuquerque (USA), September 2015
- Strasbourg : European Fantastic Film Fest (France), September 2015
- TOHorror Film Festival, Turin (Italy), October 2015
- Thess International Short Film Festival - TISFF (Thessaloniki - Greece), October 2015 Cinematic Achievement Award
- Mayhem Film Festival (Nottingham - UK), October 2015
- Festival Court Métrange, Rennes (France), October 2015
- SPASM - Festival International du Film Fantastique Montréal, Montréal (Canada), October 2015 Audience Award
- Les Utopiales de Nantes (France), Octobre 2015 Audience Award
- Asiana International Short Film Festival 2015 (AISFF2015 – Seoul, South Korea) – November 2015
- Zinema Zombie Fest, Bogota (Colombia), November 2015
- Leamington Underground Cinema Festival, Royal Leamington Spa (UK), November 2015
- Abertoir - National Horror Festival of Wales (Wales),November 2015
- Ithaca International Fantastic Film Festival (USA) -November 2015
- Rencontres Kinoma (Paris), November 2015
- Festival du Film Fantastique de Rouen (France) November 2015 Audience Award
- PIFFF (Paris International Fantastic Film Festival), Paris, November 2015 Ciné+ Frisson Award
- Court c’est court ! Cabrières d’Avignon (France) November 2015
- Festival Du Grain à démoudre, Gonfreville L'Orcher (France), November 2015
- Shivers Genre Film Festival Constance, (Germany) November 2015
- Retour à l'Anormal (La Rochelle) - Décember 2015 Grand Prize
- Courts devant (carte Blanche Canal+), (Paris - France) Décember 2015
- Courts mais Trash, Brusssels (Belgium) January 2016
- Festival des Films Maudits de Grenoble (France) - january 2016 Audience Award
- Horror-on-Sea Film Festival (Southend-on-Sea, UK) - January 2016
- Festival International du Film Fantastique de Gérardmer (France) - January 2016
- L’ombre d’un court, Festival du film court de Jouy-en-Josas (France) - February 2016 Jury Grand Prize
- Promofest, Short film of the year, February 2016 (Spain) Jury Special Mention
- Fantasporto, Festival international du film de Porto (Portugal) - Febryary 2016
- Festival Cinéma35 en fête, Ile et Vilaine (France), March 2016 Youth Jury’s Prize
- Festival Zanzan, Cesson-Sevingé (France), March 2016
- Festival Cinémator, Carros (France), March 2016
- internationale kurzfilmwoche Regensburg (Germany) March 2016
- Landshuter Short Film Festival, Landshut (Germany) March 2016
- Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival, Seattle (USA) - March 2016 Third Place Award
- Contravision Film Festival, Berlin (Germany) - March 2016 Third Place Award
- Les Etranges nuits du Cinéma, La Chaux de Fonds (Switzerland) - March 2016 Plonk & Replonk Award
- Festival Mauvais Genre, Tours (France) - March 2016
- Sup’ de Courts, Paris (France) - April 2016
- New Vision International Film Festival, Kiev (Ukraine) - April 2016 Special Mention
- Haapsalu Horror & Fantasy Film Festival, Tallinn (Estonia) - April 2016
- Les Intergalactiques - Festival de Science-Fiction de Lyon (France) - May 2016
- Prix Unifrance Films du Court-Métrage 2016, Cannes (France) - May 2016
- Festival Consegrua en Corto (Spain) - May 2016
- Festival du Film Artisanal et Audacieux, Largentière (France) - June 2016
- Détours en Cinécourt, Saint-Geniès-Bellevue (France) - June 2016
- Ploiesti Film Fest (Romania) - June 2016 Best Director
- Cryptshow Festival (Badalona - Spain) - July 2016
- Indie Street Film Festival (Red Bank - USA) - July 2016
- Best of Short Films Festival (La Ciotat - France) - July 2016
- International Short Film Festival Detmold (Germany) - July 2016
- OpenEyes Filmfest (Marburg - Germany) - July 2016
- Festival International du Film de Vébron (France) - July 2016
- Fantafestival (Rome - Italy) - July 2016
- Guanajuato International Film Festival (San Miguel de Allende - Mexico) - July 2016
- Festival Internazionale del Cinema di Frontiera (Pachino - Italy) - July 2016 Best Short Film
- Ariano International Film Festival (Ariano Irpino - Italy) - August 2016
- Ballston Spa Film Festival (Ballston Spa - USA) - August 2016 Best Editing
- Molise Cinema Film Festival (Casacalenda - Italy) - August 2016
- Cyborg Film Festival (Anghiari - Italy) - August 2016
- Corto di Sera, Independent Short Film Festival (Messina - Italy) - August 2016
- Mizzica Film Festival (Casteltermini - Italy) - August 2016
- Videolab Film Festival (Ragusa - Italy) - August 2016
- Norwich Radical Film Festival (Norwich - UK) - August 2016