Sundance 2020: Laure Giappiconi
Laure Giappiconi studied at ENSATT, a French national theatre school based in Lyon. Since then, she favors artistic adventures on the long course and contemporary creations, both on stage or in the cinema. She also writes and performs her own creations. Here she talks to us about her collaborative partnerships, lack of funds and production behind her short and some of the female directors she looks up to.
How did you find your way into film making?
I'm first an actress. I work mainly on stage. I studied acting in a french national theatre school, which destined me more for a theatrical career, but I have always been a cinephile. I spent my childhood and adolescence in the art-house cinemas of the Quartier Latin, in Paris. Besides, I have always written, especially for my own shows and performances, or for the creations in which I play. Meeting La Fille Renne, a photographer who works on film, made me want to combine her photographic research with my writing work. Film making came naturally and Elisa Monteil joined us since the first film.
Tell us about your film?
"While I'm still breathing" was shot with a hand cranked camera and 35mm black & white films. The movie is an addition of pictures, texts I wrote and an extradiegetic sound composition from Elisa.
In a 3 movement narrative, it draws the journey through a woman's sexuality, in all its roughness and softnesses. From that little girl inspired by the models painted by Paul Delvaux and Klimt, to her first sensual gestures as a teenager and her experience as a stripper, we gradually see a woman unfold. With great intimacy and sensitivity, she reveals the sensual relationship to her own femininity and to those who she has once shared a special moment with.
How did you take the news of being accepted into the festival?
"While I'm still breathing" will be showed both at International Film Festival Rotterdam and Sundance at the end of the month... What can I say ? It's such a joy and a honor. We are totally excited ! Particularly because we built this movie by our own, with no funding and no production!
Funding in this industry can always be a challenge, how did you achieve yours?
We did this movie with basically no money – just our own workforce. "While I'm still breathing" costs the price of 29 rolls of 35mm film, the chemicals to process it (La Fille Renne process herself everything in her bathroom), a few travels between Paris and Lyon and... a lot of time !
What was the most challenging aspect of making your film and how did you overcome this?
I work as an actress, Elisa as a sound engineer and performer, La Fille Renne as a teacher. We are rarely in the same cities... So the most difficult was to find time in our own schedules and then to combine them to work together...In french, there is an expression : "Patience et longueur de temps..." We decided to follow that.
If you could have gone into any other role in the industry, which would you be interested in?
I love what I do : acting / writing / directing. I don't think I have any other appetite...
The percentage of female directors at Sundance has increased again this year, a great move for the industry, which female film makers do you look up to?
A lot of female directors made me love Cinema : Nelly Kaplan, Agnès Varda, Claire Denis, Catherine Breillat, Maya Deren, Barbara Loden, Lucrecia Martel, to mention just a few...Today, to talk only about France, I'm really interested in the work of Lucie Borleteau, Nine Antico or Chloé Mazlo.
What’s the next project for you?
With La Fille Renne and Elisa Monteil, we work actually on a new movie, shooted with the same camera, about transgender. I work also with Romy Alizée, another french film photographer on a serie of film photos (on the same process as Chris Marker's La Jetée) : somes tales for adults with an Immoral in the end. We are finalizing our second movie : Romy & Laure... and the Mystery of the Enchanted Buttplug.
And finally, what film are you most looking forward to seeing in 2020?
I'm always happy and curious to discover the new movies of cineasts like Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Jia Zhank Khe or Denis Côté but I don't know when their next movies will be on screens ! In France, I can't wait to see the next film of the french director Antonin Peretjatko : La Pièce rapportée. It will be in 2020, for sure this time!
You can view more of Laure’s work via her website http://www.lauregiappiconi.com and https://lafillerenne.fr
While I'm Still Breathing (Tandis Que Je Respire Encore) will be screening in the New Frontiers Shorts Program. For more information on this years line up at Sundance Film Festival 2020 visit their website here.
