Salute your shorts 2019 – Swatted
Online players describe their struggles with "swatting", a life-threatening cyber-harassment phenomenon that looms over them whenever they play.
Interview with Director Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
In 2015, I discovered the Swatting phenomenon during a live stream. At the time, I was interested in let's play, a practice from video games that consists of filming oneself live (game stream) and commenting on one's game. What intrigued me, beyond the violent arrest, was the strange telescoping between the screens: the action of the game, where the player played a swat, and the intervention of the swats in the player's room (filmed by the webcam). It was as if the Swats had literally come out of the screen.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Potentially anybody can be “swatted”. Recent cases have seen swatters preying on people doing general live streams. It is a social issue that concerns everyone. Or not. But you have to see it.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
In my films, I am interested in the boundaries between the real and the virtual. Today, this entanglement is such that these two realities can no longer really be separated. We're in the middle of virtual reality.
New possibilities are opening up to us, as well as new issues such as the evolution of our relationships with our private, intimate data. What I like to talk about is the other side of the coin, the hidden side of this race for technological progress. The impact of this "progress" is often minimized by politics and advertising in favour of sacrosanct growth. But I always try to stage these subjects in sensitive and poetic research.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
There is no evolution since there was no real scenario at first. It all started at the editing table with the collection of elements from the Internet and then I started writing. Let's say the writing was very organic. Not really planned.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Usually Good!
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It was a surprise. I didn't expect such a success because the first story layer presents it as a niche subject. But people got the universal idea behind it.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope to reach more people with this online release.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I would love to get into more festivals, Broadcast diffusion, but anyone who would like to expand this idea and film like journalists :)
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Laugh and fear.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Can we still be safe when going online?
Would you like to add anything else?
No thank you!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I'm working on upcoming projects that are about our digital lives.
Interview: August 2019
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
Swatted
Online players describe their struggles with "swatting", a life-threatening cyber-harassment phenomenon that looms over them whenever they play.
Length: 21:14
Director: Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis
Producer: Luc-Jérôme Bailleul
Writer: Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis
About the writer, director and producer:
Born in France in 1988, ISMAEL JOFFROY CHANDOUTIS graduated from INSAS (Belgium) in editing, from Sint-Lukas Art School (Belgium) in filmmaking and from Fresnoy (France). Ismaël explores a cinema beyond the boundaries of genres. His films question memory, virtual, technology and the intermediate spaces between the worlds and between the words. He was known as a filmmaker with his film Ondes noires which has been shown in many international festivals, such as the IDFA, the Clermont-fd Short Film Festival, the Regensburg Short Film Festival etc. The film has also received numerous awards, including the Prix Festivals Connexion Auvergne Rhône Alpes in Clermont-Ferrand, the Grand Prix and the Youth Jury Prize at the Regensburg Festival. Ismael is also a film editor. He currently lives and works in Paris.
Facebook: Swatted