Cleveland International Film Festival 2020 – Cleo
Seventeen-year-old Cleo survived a hit and run accident in which both her parents lost their lives. Her grandmother tries to offer Cleo and her brother a warm and comfortable home, but she ends up bearing the brunt of a rebellious teenager who searches for comfort with the mysterious Leos.
Interview with Writer/Director Eva Cools
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Cleo is a film about the grieving process of a 17-year-old girl who survives a hit and run accident in which her parents are killed. I made this film because I lost a family member in a hit and run accident that was never resolved. I had so many questions about the accident, the perpetrator, guilt and I tried to imagine why or how someone could make this decision to run away. I tried to find some answers by making my film Cleo.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Cleo is an emotional rollercoaster, it's an insight into the life of a 17-year-old girl who tries to cope with her loss by playing the classical piano music of Rachmaninov.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
In my work I'm always looking for a personal point of view, my stories are author-driven and often based on female characters who are searching for their identity and are struggling with themselves and their environment. My aim is to write very recognizable stories but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are autobiographical.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The script has majorly evolved thanks to the screenwriting course Sources 2 and thanks to the input of my great script doctor Eric Collins.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The most wonderful feedback I have received is the feedback of the audience. I loved the heartwarming reactions of teenage girls who were inspired by the main character Cleo and wanted to play classical piano or discovered Rachmaninov and were thankful for that. The most touching feedback was the feedback of several victims of car accidents who told me that the post-traumatic stress disorder that the main character is showing, was very recognizable to them and that they had flashbacks to their own experiences because of the sound. Other persons had lost somebody in a car accident and wanted to see my film to find consolation or were looking for stories that could help them with their grieving process. Some people were very quiet and came to me in tears, it was quite overwhelming for me to receive all these different reactions and I'm still very grateful for that.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It has surprised me in a way because I didn't know that cinema could have such a real impact on people’s personal life. I also had a lot of discussions about the ending (which was quite polemic for some people) and it was interesting for me to listen to all these different points of view about the ending.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope that I can generate more visibility for my movie, which is a personal arthouse movie that is mainly focused on the festival circuit.
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 and journalists.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I'm open to everything.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Are you able to commit a hit and run accident out of panic?
Would you like to add anything else?
I hope that my film can inspire and touch different generations. In my film, music is the driving and healing force, because it's a language that everybody understands, therefore I hope I have made a movie that is recognizable.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Eva Cools is working on her new feature film Plastic Kalasjnikov and a new series Bathroom Stories (working title).
Brecht Goyvaerts (DOP) is working on a series: Paris Police 1900.
Alain Dessauvage (Editor) is working on the feature film: The Silencing.
Maarten D'Hollander (executive producer) is working on the feature film Fortress and the series Fuck you very very much.
Interview: May 2020
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, 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
Cleo
Seventeen-year-old Cleo survived a hit and run accident in which both her parents lost their lives. Her grandmother tries to offer Cleo and her brother a warm and comfortable home, but she ends up bearing the brunt of a rebellious teenager who searches for comfort with the mysterious Leos.
Length: 1:46:00
Director: Eva Cools
Producer: Annemie Degryse: Lunanime
Writer: Eva Cools
About the writer, director and producer:
EVA COOLS is a Flemish screenwriter and film director. She graduated in 2007 from Sint-Lukas, Brussels, with a major in Audiovisual Arts. She has directed four short films: De Puta Madre (2006), El Camino del Deseo (2007), Las Meninas (2012) and Everything comes back (2014). Her short films were nominated and awarded at various national and international film festivals, including: Moondance Film Festival (USA), Elche International Film Festival (SPAIN), Firstglance International Film Festival (USA), Great Lakes Film Festival (USA), Cinefiesta Puerto Rico, Film Festival Ghent (BE) and Women's Independent Film Festival in Hollywood (USA) where she won four awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Elisa Mouliaá) with the short film Las Meninas. She has also directed several music videos for famed Belgian bands such as Intergalactic Lovers, Mauro Pawlowski, Nightman, The Sophomore Jinx and Arquettes. The video for I left my heart in Vermont by The Sophomore Jinx won the Popfolio Award for Best Music Video. Her debut film Cleo (2019) premiered in October at the International Film Fest Ghent. CLEO had already won the Visser-Neerlandia Award for Best Screenplay during the Ghent Film Festival in 2016. Next, Cleo had its European première at Alice Nella Citta, a parallel selection of the Rome Film Festival. The film received three awards: the MyMovies First Feature Film Award, the Rising Star Award for main actress Anna Franziska Jäger and the TimVision Award. Cleo is selected for several international film festivals such as: Tallinn Black Nights, International Filmfestival of India (Goa), International Womens Film Festival Dortmund / Cologne (GER), International filmfestival Sofia (BULG), International filmfestival Movies That Matter (The Netherlands) and International filmfestival Cleveland (USA). Cleo is a production of Lunanime and is distributed by Lumière. The screenplay was developed during the VAF scenario workshop and the European Sources 2 Scriptwriting Workshop in Norway. The film was supported by the Flemish Audiovisual Fund and Screen Brussels. Eva Cools is currently working as a scriptwriter and director on the feature film Plastic Kalasjnikov, together with Ivo Victoria, the author of the book ‘Billie & Seb.’ The script was also developed during Sources 2.
LUNANIME is a film production company created within the Lumière Group in 2008 and focuses mainly on fiction and animation projects. The animation projects are produced in-house in our animation studio StudioLumière, which is specialized in 2D animation and offers great possibilities for young animators in the form of projects, internships and employment. The Lumiere Group is a Benelux strategic partner in financing, (co-) production, distribution and exploitation. We have many services to offer:
Financing films, TV and animation through the excellent Belgian tax rebate system, all handled inhouse by our daughter company Lum.Invest.
Access to local funding opportunities, like Screen Flanders, Mediafund and VAF and help with obtaining European funding like Creative Europe Media.
From just consulting or helping out with logistics to a full-blown production: our experienced inhouse production department handles film and TV (co)productions from development to post-production.
Fully equipped and talent-nurturing StudioLumiere is specialized in financing and creating 2D digital and hand-drawn animation. Lumiere’s all rights distribution department acquires Benelux rights for (co-) productions. We make sure to find a Benelux audience for our (co-)productions through smart marketing/PR and (output) deals with all local broadcasters and streaming services. We also own three cinemas and digital outlets like lumiereseries.com. Tap into Lumiere’s extensive international network of producers, sales agents, broadcasters and streaming services. And last but not least: people who put storytelling, content and creativity first.
Key cast: Anna Franziska Jaeger (Cleo), Yolande Moreau (Bobonne), Roy Aernouts (Leos), Martha Canga Antonio (Myra), Natali Broods (Arianne), Lucie Debay (Jeanne), Ishaq El Akel (Bruno)
Looking for: journalists, buyers, film festival directors
Facebook: Cleo
Instagram: @cleothefilm
Hashtags used: #cleothefilm
Website: www.evacools.com
Other: IMDb
Funders: VAF, Screen Brussels and crowdfunding
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Cleveland International filmfestival (USA) - beginning of May; International Womens Film Festival Dortmund / Cologne (GER) - TBC; International filmfestival Sofia (BULG) - TBC.