14 days of filming, the first experience of shooting a feature film with a very small team and a film with great energy: here is Mi Iubita mon amour, the first film of actress Noemi Merlant (Portrait of a Young Girl in Fire). in theaters.
This is the story of 27-year-old Zhanna. A young woman is going to celebrate her bachelorette party with her friends in Romania. There he meets 17-year-old Nino and everything separates them. This is the start of a passionate and timely summer.
This is the starting point for Mi Iubita mon amour, Noemi Merlant’s first feature film and starring role (revealing Celine Sciamma’s portrait of a young girl on fire). Noemi Merlanti co-directed and co-wrote the film with Gimmi Kovaci (who stars as Nino).
The peculiarity of this film, which opens in theaters this Wednesday (after being selected at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival): it was shot in just 14 days, without a producer, and was written on short notice, with a team reduced to 11 people. .
A team consisting of Noemi Merlant’s near and dear ones, the film’s actors are her “friends forever“As she points to our microphone and specifies that they met at the Cours Florent.”We all spent a lot of time together. We talked about cinema, life, many things…”
“We all formed a very strong bond, He continues. “We said that one day we should make a film together. Time is running out. And then Gimi tells us: “Come to my house in Romania next summer”. We started location scouting and the idea of making a film about us, our friendship, our love story was born.“.
This way of creating, in this spontaneity, corresponded to the purpose of the film.
“This is something incredible and something that is not said much“, he adds, emphasizing the energy instilled by his team and the freedom of his partner in the film, Gimmi Kovacs.”Gimme says we have to go, that we shouldn’t postpone things for tomorrow. You have to screw up what people think and that energy, I think is great“.
Noemie Merlant, who eventually produced the film with Pierre Guyard (most notably Thomas Caille’s The Fighters, with Adele Haenel and Kevin Azay), comments on this choice: “We wanted to keep it between us, we were afraid of the essence of what we wanted to say, but because I still didn’t feel entitled to make the first feature film made with people, with money, which is definitely a pressure. It can paralyze me, especially. I can be very quick to let myself be influenced and lose my mind as a result. Stick with people who know me well, who don’t let me become what I want to say. This way of creating, in this spontaneity, corresponded to the purpose of the film. We told ourselves that it must be filled with pictures, a movie, something else.”
For the impetus to make this feature film, Noemi Merlant emphasizes the importance of a film like Hafs Hertz’s You Deserve Love, which was “A true inspiration“.”To see that he can do this, that it is also possible to make films like this“.
Noemi Merlant also always has a special role for her. “It’s a credit to the portrait, a lot.” “With what I learned from this role, from our discussions. Dare to listen to myself as a woman, dare to tell our stories, dare to direct, even if I am an actor. Don’t give up on yourself, it shouldn’t take up much space, I have to stay in the role of an actor. Don’t apologize and go!“
and add:Try to reflect on our relationship with desire, our relationship with love, mutual love, consent, gaze. Also on the way to capture female desire and, as in woman, to capture man. These are all things that have resulted in a changing society. It’s more and more questions, and the better, but I also, a lot of Celine Sciamma and her film, it’s really.
Mi iubita mon amour, Noemi Merlant’s first feature film, opens in theaters this Wednesday.
César 2020, Portrait of a Young Girl on Fire…: Noemi Merlant talks
Source: allocine
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
