Lion sur Arte: Thousands of children participated in the film

Inspired by the true story of Saro Brierelli, the moving biographical film The Lion, aired on Art this evening, is simply one of the 50 best films of all time according to AlloCiné viewers. And for good reason!

With an impressive average of 4.4 / 5, this feature film by Gart Davis depicts the amazing journey of a very young boy separated from his family in India, which was left to him and then taken by an Australian couple. To look for his biological parents in the country after 25 years.

The lion, located between two different eras, develops especially in India in the 80s and follows the adventures of a young Saro. To play the role of a 5-year-old boy, the producer had to launch a colossal search for a rare pearl, or a very small child, talented enough to play this demanding role:

“(…) J.I knew what I was looking for, but the result we wanted to get created a lot of trouble for us. “ Says director Gart Davis in the film’s press kit.

“In general, children from the age of 8 can appear to be good actors. On the other hand, it is more difficult to find a 5 year old child who will play well. I needed a guy who naturally had 80% of the cast I was going to read, a kid whose gaze was settled and I felt he was already alive.

Before he discovered the young Sani Pavar, who gives Saro his qualities in the film, so the production met thousands of children across India. These numerous castings, filmed by secondary teams, were then sent to Australia to see Gart Davis. The latter recently went there to meet some of them and in particular the future star of the film:

“We were satisfied with Sunny “– Says the film director. “He was a kid like no one else. It was absolutely amazing to see that he inhaled in his game what was not required of him.”

Although he did not speak English at all at the beginning of the filming, the little boy quickly became friends with the film crew and especially Nicole Kidman, who played her adoptive mother in the feature film. They played several games of cricket together, which can also be seen in the final cut of the feature film.

(Re) Discover our interview with Dev Patel for the movie …