“We needed a great actor to play this role”: He is one of the most exciting films of the year and he echoes the taboo

“We needed a great actor to play this role”: He is one of the most exciting films of the year and he echoes the taboo

Nino Clavel 28, at the end of a medical examination, learns that she has a throat cancer. The young man freezes, knocked. It was as if his mind was destroyed after the announcement of news from his body. The Pauline Loquès film follows the character between the weekend, the announcement of its diagnosis and the first day of treatment.

The director offers a story full of life and hope that stands away from all morbidity. Nino confirmed, first and foremost, the talent of young actress Theodore Pellerin, who was awarded the Louis Roader Foundation Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Meet the filmmaker around this sad movie.

Separation: Nino talks about the taboo subject, but very little resolved: cancer in young people – more and more identified today. Know about this by writing a movie?

Pauline loquès, script author and director: Yes, I was a journalist, I was working in France, so I still saw it was expanding. I’m also a mother, so I’m afraid, I’m telling myself that it will be a very strong reality in the coming years. Then there was a more or less tragic trajectory around me, as many people, but those who remain trials.

Even if we go out to get chemotherapy and radiotherapy at the age of 25, these are still changes in life, so yes, I told myself that there was something in the air that approached, between mental health and physical health. In the new generation, cancer comes with other realities, other impulses.

Is it difficult to convince manufacturers and find funding when offering a movie about cancer?

Yes, we get a lot: “People are afraid.“But it is not necessary to CNC or public services, moreover, on the market and distributors, this is complicated.

We don’t always need to make tragic accounts. There are other realities. We need to see and hear other stories. The more these types of fantasies we adhere to, this lead kit that comes to us, and the idea that life stops, the less we will distinguish ourselves from this fear. There are many sick people who do it.

Today, young people are not the models I know for myself. There is a shown sensitivity that is very different.

Nino is a film that has the simplicity of appearance because I think it is very difficult to do a similar project, find the right words, capture a good appearance. What was your greatest difficulty?

Yes, it’s simple because we say it doesn’t go well. In fact, there are many works of writing to get to this point. But for a long time, even when editing, I told myself that he had nothing to say. I was afraid that we do not understand the sophistication. But it was really necessary to trust the situations, the words that took a long time to choose. And the great actor needed to play this role.

Nino is not an obvious character for interpretation. How was Todor Pelerin surprised?

The character was very silent, we were barely removed, nor did he add. Theodore, he can live in this. It gives a density to silence and a face that is very large. That is to say, a plan for it, it is already a world. I often say: “I wrote the character and it man“And that’s it. When he got into his clothes because he wears the same movie, he became Nino. I had a blind confidence.

Theodore Pelerin “Nino”.

Usually, I do not pay attention to the genres of characters in the movies, but it is interesting to note that Nino, a young man, is very far from you. Why do you think this choice and what do you think?

It was more mysterious to me, the male genre. This was asking me to study. It was really wondering what this terrible news was in a young man. The film would be completely different with the woman.

And then there is a thing that could not walk in a woman. Then, this generation, today’s youth, are not the models I know for myself. There is insecurity and sensitivity that is very different. This is a new person.

For example, after that I realized when she wants to tell her mother and that she does not succeed, she asks her: “Would you like to go?“His first reflex is to ask him:”Do you want to change?The first thing that puts him in question is his identity as a young man who is still talking. But I continued him a long time to analyze it.

Theodore Pellerin in

Theodore Pelerin “Nino”.

At the end of the scene, Matthew Amalrick makes it a remarkable and fun appearance. Did you know him before you offer him?

No, I didn’t know him. We have already chosen Jean -Balibar for the role of mother and two weeks before filming, we could not find this man from public chairs. We do not know whether this old wonderful guy is in a hurry or someone from the street to the invention of life. It took two and I wanted Matthew Amalrick.

My head operator, Lucy Bodinau, worked on Barbara on the film and asked. He just read the two scenes and said, “It’s too much to laugh, I’m doing it. “And he came for a day.

He was wonderful, he came in a lot of accessories, even with a tahitic necklace. He returned his own shoes and jacket offered by Jane Balibar. He brought all his film experience, but was like a child who finds a tray.

What are the reactions to viewers at the end of your film’s projections?

When I represent this, people do not speak about the cinema. They tell me about their lives and I find it beautiful. It’s crazy, eh, we create a connection through the story. They really tell me about their intimate and I love it, I prefer that we are talking about staging.

Interview of Thomas Desroches in Paris on September 3, 2025

Nino, currently in the cinema

Source: Allocine

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