Shots of Paris on May 15, 2016 with a Parisian narrator telling us the story of May 15, 1848, when protesters finally pushed the establishment to let them have a popular vote to elect their ruler.

Interview with Writer/Director Janek Ambros

Watch May 15th in Paris on Prime Video

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

I knew I'd be in Paris and I mostly just wanted to make a film while I was there. But as I got further into it with writing, I had to choose what the film would be. With Brexit, the upcoming French elections, and the rise of Donald Trump, I really wanted to make a film about how nationalism and demagogues that people elect can have extremely negative consequences, just as it did back in 1848 in France. I love films that take place in one day, so I decided to pick the anniversary of a protest that occurred in that year and shoot it on that exact date in 2016. It shows that we haven't changed that much over time; the reality 1848, in the large scheme of things, was not long ago at all.

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

Aside from the beauty shots of Paris as well as the more gritty cinema-verite of the "outskirts" of the city, its purpose is to remind the audience that populism and nationalism always bubbles up. For decades after WW2, the West took strides in building a unified Europe to avoid nationalistic leaders to cause turmoil in the region, similar to what we see in the Mid-East and Western Asia. We're slowly starting to see a pull back from this and it is frightening and important for the audience to see that history repeats itself.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

While the film looks at people as a more collective body, the personal elements come from simply the faces we see. Each individual we see in the film, or even just walking down the street in real life, has some sort of worldview and struggle. In this film, we tried to show a wide array of people; the rich, the middle class, the poor, the police. It's safe to assume all of these people strive to better themselves in some way, but they don't always know the right answer during elections. People have chosen poorly.

*May 15th in Paris - A skateboarder at Le Republic hours before a protest on workers rights.*

Cinema aesthetics itself can also be personal or at least emote personal feelings. In the first few shots we wanted to show Paris as we know it; beautiful and romantic, something people personally have experienced or imagined in their head. We then veered into a much more static and rigid way of shooting Versailles and the monarchs. After that we jumped into a very urban, cinema verite, blend of skateboarding, hip hop, soccer, drug use, and protesting. Then finally we blend all of it for a more melancholy night in Paris. I think each of these ways of shooting and what we're shooting triggers personal feelings in people, though there may not be traditional dramatic narrative.

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

I wrote the script of the narrator before flying to Paris and shot listed what I needed. Of course, when I got there, the beauty and romanticism of Paris led me to ditch some of my original visual ideas and just absorb my surroundings and shoot new images I couldn't even imagined. I came back, used the same framework, then Barbara De Fina gave me a lot of extremely useful notes on the narration, so I re-wrote the narration to reflect more of what I ended up shooting and some of the themes that were a little too subterranean.

May 15th in Paris - A protester at Le Republic getting the crowd excited for the upcoming local city elections.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

We've gotten into a lot of festivals thus far, so that's exciting.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

Not really; it's a short film so it's a bit of a luck of the draw for festivals.

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

We'd love to get a distributor of some sort for the film. Although it's short form, there's so many platforms and we've received great feedback so it'd be nice for it to show somewhere.

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

Distributors, film festival directors, and journalists.

May 15th in Paris - A couple sitting together, enjoying the present moment in this beauty shot of Paris.

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

Any positive feedback is great, but we really want to just challenge the audience and make them realize how easily the majority can get something wrong in politics, or anything for that matter.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Whether or not direct democracy works and whether or not the majority is right. It's a pretty big question; Ibsen tackles it with An Enemy of the People in the most articulate way for the argument that their not. But it's complicated.

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Myself and my company, Assembly Line Entertainment, are shooting a picture called Arlington West. The film is about a young man and woman, both Iraq War veterans, who meet at a Veterans memorial by the Santa Monica Pier and end up in a deep political debate that unravels the reality of their struggles from the war. It gets into the War in Iraq, ISIS, the deep state, Trump, Russia, etc. But ultimately it's just about two people connecting for one night. Though we have about 10 projects in development with myself and other directors, this is our main focus.

Interview: March 2017

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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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May 15th in Paris

Shots of Paris on May 15, 2016 with a Parisian narrator telling us the story of May 15, 1848, when protesters finally pushed the establishment to let them have a popular vote to elect their ruler.

Length: 10mins

Director: Janek Ambros

Producer: Barbara De Fina

Writer: Janek Ambros

About the writer, director and producer:

Janek Ambros: Janek Ambros is a filmmaker who started the boutique film company, Assembly Line Entertainment. His most notable film as a director is Imminent Threat, which tackles the War on Terror's impact on civil liberties. He made it with Academy Award nominee James Cromwell.

Barbara De Fina: Barbara De Fina has produced some of the most decorated films in history which include Goodfellas, Casino, The Temptation of Christ, Hugo, Silence, and many more.

Social media:

Facebook: Assembly Line Entertainament

Twitter: @jpambros

Instagram: @jpambros

Other:

Key cast: Nathalie Simille

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): distributors, film festival directors, journalists

Funders: Galo Medina, Jillian Barbara, Janek Ambros

Made in association with: Assembly Line Entertainment