They salivate is the story of a kiss. A couple kiss each other in their deserted living room. The party begins and one guest drinks the couple's last kiss.

Interview with Writer/Director/Editor Ariane Boukerche

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

I had something to say that I couldn’t tell with words. Something inside me like a liquid moving between my head and my stomach. I could only realise it like that.

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

You will feel some very powerful emotions. This is like a fantasy, beautiful and repulsive at the same time. There are desires, disgusts and beauty. The meaning remains quite open but it would resonate with your personal experience and you may keep it in your mind.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

My film deals with attraction and lost. It was really important to me at that time but I am not the only one to have experienced it. I made this film to touch others but like in a relationship, I am on my side, I don’t know if it can work on anyone else. If at least It is personal, maybe it may talk to others.

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

I wrote my script in two days but I am a slow person. I wanted to do it right, in the best way that I can do. Almost two years later I finally can shoot it. Of course, the script has changed but not so much. The main actions were there from the start. It's a very impulsive film and I wanted to keep that way. That’s why, even if with the time I was doubting about some scenes: « Is that too much to do this and that?" Or "I will shoot it anyway but I may cut it in the editing… », I finally kept almost every idea to the end. I just thought one to the garbage in the editing process.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

The feedback said that the saliva is more disgusting than many gore stuff such as blood, brain tip and viscera. And that they won't forget my film!

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

Of course, I knew that saliva is repulsive, but not at that point. We are doing that all day long. We swallow one litter of our own saliva day by day. Maybe there are not enough films and books about saliva and that’s the originality of my short! I want to go further on that idea for with my next project.

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

It would be a great opportunity to enlarge the audience of it. I made my film to be seen, as a lot of directors do. My movie is not too talkative and it is flirting with the genre’s film. It is surreal, quite cheerful and cathartic. It may appeal to moviegoers or not, who in the spirit of Slamdance are looking for imaginary and personal cinema experiences.

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

I'll be very happy to meet professionals from the USA and from all other the word to enlarge the audience of this film and for developing my projects to come.

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

I wanted to provoke body and instinctive reactions in front of this mysterious and powerful woman who will spread her mute scream.

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

What symbolises the liquids for me.

Would you like to add anything else?

To salivate is to covet, to whet your appetite.
Saliva is corrosive, it prepares for digestion.
Saliva protects us from outside microbes.
It’s a mood that soothes wounds and aids healing.
What about love wounds? Should we lick them? Can we lick them?
What taste do we have?
It is a mixture of water, protein, electrolytes and mineral salts. It is colourless and may be frothy. However, saliva conveys a rather repulsive image. There has to be another ingredient, a particular ingredient for all the ones who produce it.
What is salivating for a woman when she wants a man?
At the first kiss, a friendly relationship changes.
And at the last one?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I start to write my first feature film. It would be a none naturalist thriller.

Interview: January 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

They salivate

They salivate is the story of a kiss. A couple kiss each other in their deserted living room. The party begins and one guest drinks the couple's last kiss.

Length: 19:43

Director: Ariane Boukerche

Producer: Julien Pichard

Writer: Ariane Boukerche

About the writer, director and producer:

ARIANE BOUKERCHE graduated from the École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg (HEAR) where she produced videos installations and experimental films.  Now she works as an editor and director for fictions and documentaries. Her first film Alices produced by Dragway Productions in 2014, won the Great Price Corto Europa in Linea d'Ombra Festival 19# in Italy. Fantômes 2015 is selected at Côté Court, France.

Key cast: Olga Riazanova, Def

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

Facebook: Ariane Boukerche

Website: www.arianeboukerche.com/index.php/realisations/fictions/

Other: VImeo

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Slamdance 20#, Park City Utah - in Narrative Shorts 1 at Gallery, Treasure Mountain Inn, January 24, 2020, 1:15 - 3:00 PM and at Gallery, Treasure Mountain Inn, January 27, 2020 3:45 PM; Festival Même Pas Peur 10#, February 20, at La Réunion Island
www.festivalmemepaspeur.com