Wicked Queer Boston LGBT Film Festival - Pre-Drink
Alexe is a young trans woman, and Carl a gay man. Best friends since forever, an evening spent together destabilizes Alexe, when both decide to have sex together for the first time.
Interview with Writer/Director Marc-Antoine Lemire
Watch Pre-Drink here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you! Until the very beginning of the process, it was clear for me that PRE-DRINK was going to be a film about the thin and sometimes blurry boundaries between friendship and love. The film takes places in a single bedroom, one evening, while Alexe (a transwoman), and Carl (her gay best friend) have a couple of drinks together before joining other friends in a bar. As they drink, talk and have fun that night, they decide to sleep together for the first time. But what was suppose to be a simple game between them, an act of freedom and liberty, finally turns out to become much more than that for Alexe... During the entire film, we follow her point of view with a very intimate, realistic and raw approach.
I made this film because I really think anyone can relate to that simple situation: when your feelings get confused inside a strong and long-lasting friendship. Even though if my two characters could be considered as marginal people, my ultimate goal with PRE-DRINK, was to make the audience relate to them. Because what they go through is absolutely universal. It's about feelings we all have inside, such as love, sexual attraction, fear, disappointment, loneliness... It's human.
The sexual orientation or identity of Alexe and Carl doesn't matter at all. Sexual identity is not even a theme I try to talk about in PRE-DRINK, which is probably my statement about it. By making this film, I tried to unstigmatise my characters from their "marginal" condition. I wanted the audience to feel close to Alexe, to feel close to what she really is. I wanted the audience to forget she's a transwoman, and see above that.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You should watch PRE-DRINK because it's a film that turns around sex scenes, but where we focus on the character's psychology rather than on the sexual act itself. And you don't get to see that quite often when it comes to sex in movies. We try to go deep into Alexe's point of view, and we follow her state of mind the whole night. It's quite intense. I swear, you really don't want to miss main actress Pascale Drevillon's stunning performance, besides her amazing co-star Alex Trahan. Their chemistry is what makes the film.
Plus, you should watch PRE-DRINK with friends, because I'm convinced it might create really interesting and essential discussions.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
PRE-DRINK is such a simple story. It's about the thin boundaries between friendship and love. In my past, I've fell in love with friends that didn't feel the same way as I did. That's life, and there's nothing much extraordinary about it. In fact, everyone has probably been through this kind of situation. I wrote a story about Alexe who is a transwoman, but I'm not a trans myself. However, Alexe feels the same way as I did when it comes to struggling with emotions.
I tend to think that if something deeply touches me personally, it might also reach other people's sensibility. We're all composed of the same feelings... Joy, desire, sadness, loneliness, fear... After that, it's just a matter of context, and how you express those to make the audience relate.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
It took me about three years to make PRE-DRINK, from the beginning of the writing, to the end of postproduction. The longest part was definitely writing the scenario, making researches, and casting Alexe (because I insisted on having a real trans-actress, and it was not that easy to find!). Until the very beginning of the process, though, I had something extremely specific in mind. Most of the development challenges was simply to not be disturbed by the industrial or technical aspects that comes with making a film.
We had to keep focussing on the psychology of Alexe and on the essential of what needed to be said.
With actors Pascale Drevillon and Alex Trahan, we worked hard together, before the shoot, to really make the characters alive. Rehearsals are definitely what really made PRE-DRINK evolved during the development. For about five months, we saw each other regularly, to develop the strong complicity that we see on-screen. We added little details together, talked a lot, and just worked on building a strong relation based on trust.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
A lot more than I expected so far! It started with TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in September 2017, where we won the award for Best Canadian Short, and it never stopped to surprise me since then. People seem to be touched by the film, and they've been very generous with us in terms of feedback. A lot of people come to me after screenings around the world, saying they really related to Alexe's character or what she was going through.
Some of them even admitted to me that they've felt surprised and confronted by the fact that even they totally forgot, at some point, that Alexe was a trans-character... That is probably the best compliment I received.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Absolutely! I mean... I'm not a trans myself, I just wrote a story about a human being living something. With PRE-DRINK, I receive a lot of questions and comments about gender issues. Of course, I have my opinion about that, but I still have so many things to learn about that subject, like anybody! I'm good to speak about my film, my inspirations or my intentions... but I'm certainly not the one who should speak about transsexuality. In those situations, I insist on giving the mic to my actress Pascale Drevillon, who really is the good person to talk about this. That's really important for me. But during Q&As, I noticed that PRE-DRINK contributes to start interesting discussions and debates around identity, from which I continue to learn of!
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
My goal is definitely to reach as many people as I can, and everywhere. I want the world to meet Alexe, and see how great, intelligent and beautiful she is!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Film festival directors, programmers and journalists would be a dream, so that as many people as possible could see or hear about PRE-DRINK. We already have an international distributor, H264 Distribution, based in Montreal, and they're making an amazing job with us.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like to think that each and every time someone sees PRE-DRINK and relate to the characters, it participates in opening the world's mind... Even if it's just a tiny tiny bit, I hope we can make a difference by proving there's no such thing as difference. To reduce the gap between what could be perceived as marginal, and the rest. We're all the same, whether trans of cis.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
"Are Alexe and Carl could have been heterosexual and cis characters?" My own answer is ABSOLUTELY YES.
Now I'd like people to ask themselves: "How do I feel?"
Would you like to add anything else?
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak about PRE-DRINK, and keep up your amazing work!
Interview: March 2018
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTIAQ+, scifi, horror, world cinema. 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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PRE-DRINK
Alexe is a young trans woman, and Carl a gay man. Best friends since forever, an evening spent together destabilizes Alexe, when both decide to have sex together for the first time.
Length: 23 min
Director: Marc-Antoine Lemire
Producer: Marc-Antoine Lemire & Maria Gracia Turgeon (Midi la Nuit)
Writer: Marc-Antoine Lemire
About the writer, director and producer:
- Director, Screenwriter and producer Marc-Antoine is interested in a daring and sensitive art that rather focus on the character’s point of view than on technical prowess.
- Midi La Nuit's love of innovative storytelling and striking visuals has led the company to produce cutting edge films that have been selected in major film festivals such as Locarno, Sundance, TIFF, Oberhausen amongst others.
Key cast: Pascale Drevillon, Alex Trahan
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Film festival directors, journalists, and an audience as wide as possible.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/predrinkfilm
Other: http://www.h264distribution.com/en/films/pr
e-drink/Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
- Wicked Queer, Boston LGBT film festival. (US)
- Festival 48 Images Seconde (France)
- Three other dates in North America, three in Europe and another in Asia (which can't be revealed at the moment).