Philippe Lioret Welcome

Welcome

WELCOME is the multi award-winning new film from writer/directorPhilippe Lioret - a compassionate and inspiring drama about the unlikelyfriendship between two men contending with issues of lost love anddislocation.

17-year-old Bilal (Firat Ayverdi) has spent the last three months travellingillegally across Europe, in an attempt to reunite with his girlfriend whohas moved with her family to England. The long journey is almost overwhen he finally reaches Calais, on the far northern coast of France; hecan literally see his destination from across the Channel. But with alllegal options exhausted, Bilal resolves that his only option is to learn toswim, and make the dangerous crossing himself.

Bilal seeks the help of middle-aged instructor Simon (Vincent Lindon),who is privately reeling from impending divorce from his sociallyconsciouswife Marion (Audrey Dana). In an effort to win her back, Simonimpulsively - and uncharacteristically - risks everything by taking Bilalunder his wing.

After premiering to acclaim and two prizes at the 2009 Berlin FilmFestival, WELCOME earned major critical attention in France, and helpedtrigger an intense public debate over the hardline policies of the Sarkozygoverment. Driven by strong audience reaction, the film became one ofthe biggest hits of the year, achieving over 1.2 million admissions.On 25 November 2009, WELCOME was awarded the prestigious LuxPrize for Cinema by the European Parliament.



Winners of the 2010 César Awards will be announced on February 27 in Paris.

In Cinemas April 1

www.welcomemovie.com.au

Win tickets - www.femail.com.au/comps.htm

Welcome Interview with Philippe Lioret

How did WELCOME come about as a project?

Philippe Lioret: First of all, it came from a strong desire to make a film about this particular subject and no other. Aboutpeople who, fleeing their homelands in distress, want at all costs to reach this Eldorado, which to theireyes is England. Yet after an improbable journey they find themselves stuck in Calais - frustrated, illtreated and humiliated- just a few kilometers from the English coastline that they can actually see fromwhere they are.

I was speaking about this one evening with Olivier Adam, and I realized that this place was a bit like theMexican border, our Mexican border, and that it would only take a bit of digging into the subject to comeup with a strong piece of drama. I spoke about it to Emmanuel Courcol, and we started thinking about astory that could take place in this framework.


How did you go about it?

Philippe Lioret: Emmanuel and I contacted non-profit organizations that do whatever they can to help these people,and we left for Calais. For several days during an icy cold winter, we followed volunteers from theseorganizations and shared the infernal life of the refugees: the "jungle" where they find shelter, thesmuggler's extortion racket, the endless persecutions from the police - an entire riot police garrison isdedicated just to them - the refugee detention centers, the constant checks of trucks in which they havesqueezed themselves in order to get onto the ferries, and in which they risk their lives trying to escapeC02 detectors, heart monitors, scanners, among other things...

What most surprised us was the age of the refugees, the eldest wasn't even 25. There are even kidsaround fifteen who set off alone on this mad journey. When we spoke with Sylvie Copyans from theSalam Organization, we learned that several of them, as a last resort, had even attempted to swimacross the Channel. We returned to Paris after several days, our minds so full with what we had seen andexperienced, that we didn't exchange a single word during the car ride back.


How did the framework of the screenplay develop?

Philippe Lioret: We were haunted by the story of a young boy who wanted to swim across the English Channel. Wecaptured our characters and the story's framework in two sentences - all the while wanting to ensurewe weren't creating a cheap "over-dramatization", nor betray the truth of the refugee's experience.The subject matter was so strong, and we felt our story was representative of the migrants' reality, thatsincerity would prevail.


That's how Simon's character came to be.

Philippe Lioret: The documentary side to the story had to be left aside to bring the characters over to their personalstories, to the emotional interactions that condition everyone's life and are often the reason behindeverything.

Observing the volunteers, I said to myself that some of them were bound to share their lives with someonewho probably isn't as committed and generous as they are.

Simon is a fallible person, like all of us, he is far from perfect. At the beginning, like most people fromCalais, he isn't interested in the immigrant problem, he just puts up with it: As Marion, his ex-wife says :"He looks away and goes back home." As a younger man, he just missed having a successful career insports, and this failure has made him bitter. He has retreated into his life as a swimming instructor andtoday his only problem is that Marion has left him. When he meets Bilal, he helps him for all the wrongreasons. If he offers to take them in, Bilal and his friend Zoran, it's only to impress Marion, to try and provethat he's not the crazed individualist she thinks he is. He does all this in order to win her back. But thingsget out of control: helping an illegal immigrant is punishable by law.


He gets himself caught up in the middle of a spiral that he can't control.

Philippe Lioret: And the more he is sucked in, the more he becomes conscious of the complete injustice that pervadesthe situation, the more he becomes attached to Bilal.


Bilal, who wants to go to England to join Mîna. The film could also be summarized as follows: a manloses a woman and his life is turned upside-down. Another, younger man, loves a woman and wants tojoin her at all costs.

Philippe Lioret: And these two destinies meet, colliding with the absurd world order. The film demonstrates how anencounter can help someone surpass himself.

The situation makes one think of a far from glorious time period, the Occupation...

Philippe Lioret: Yes, all of this could have happened in 1943, and it could be the story of a guy who hides Jewish peoplein his house and gets caught. Except that this is happening today, two hundred kilometers from Paris.


Were you thinking of Vincent Lindon when you wrote the screenplay?

Philippe Lioret: In my previous films, I often thought of him during the idea stage. First of all because I find him to be ahell of an actor and also because I feel a form of connection between us. But, at the writing stage, I trynot to think about the actors and to focus on the characters. Except that this time, we had lunch togetherbetween the two stages. I told him about the story and he told me he would do the film without evenreading the screenplay. Vincent is a kind-hearted guy and I think that beyond the character of Simon,he liked the idea of embarking on this particular project. So I was thinking about him while I wrote,and since that day nothing has contradicted our working together. However, people who know both ourpersonalities were afraid that sparks would fly on the set. Yet, as we were both working towards thesame goal - the film - there was an exceptional chemistry between us that was bound to influence thefinal result.


What kind of actor is he?

Philippe Lioret: He is able to convey feelings with just a simple movement or posture. Often, thanks to him, you can doaway with a word or a phrase. He is a man who gets involved, a perfectionist. As an actor, he is alwaysready to listen, and tries to ring true rather than make an impression. Thanks to all of that his portrayal ofSimon is, i think, perfect. I know that after a film is made it is always polite to speak well of everyone, buthere, with him, I definitely made a beautiful encounter, artistically and humanly speaking. We've spokenevery day since the end of filming, and we see each other often. We'll make other films together.


And Audrey Dana?

Philippe Lioret: Audrey is what the Anglo-Saxons call "the girl next door", the opposite of a starlet. It took me sometime to find her. I needed a woman believable as a middle school teacher who goes to serve pasta torefugees just because of simple human engagement. Yet I didn't want to see a militant suffragette turnup. I just needed a woman who felt good about herself and who had true inner generosity. Audrey hasthis generosity. She was a bit scared by the character of Marion, but she loved the story and I was sureshe would be able to find her place in it. She's someone who is whole, who takes things seriously withouttaking herself too seriously.


And how did you find Bilal?

Philippe Lioret: It was like finding a needle in a haystack. The biggest part of the casting process. When we were writingthe character, a 17 year old who only speaks Kurdish and English, and who with Vincent has to carrythe film on his shoulders, we put ourselves into a cold sweat. I didn't even know if this guy existedsomewhere in the world. With Tatiana Vialle, the casting director, we traveled for weeks from Berlin toIstanbul, London, and Sweden where a large Kurdish community lives. Finally, we discovered Firat inFrance. Naturally, he wasn't a professional actor and the first tests were…somewhat unusual. But he hada truth and intensity about him that made a difference.


Did he want to be an actor?

Philippe Lioret: Not at all. He had come as an amateur. We even had to persuade him to do it, and convince his parents.I initially planned to work on the part with him, to rehearse a great deal, but in the end I preferred to leavehim his naturalness, and I didn't do anything. As the shooting date drew nearer, I became increasinglyscared, and so did he. Once on the set, he was awed for three hours, then just as naturally he found hisplace and the right tone for the role.


There are also a number of non professional actors in the film.

Philippe Lioret: All of the young Kurds that Bilal meets in Calais were found while searching for the actor who wouldplay Bilal. Most of them come from Istanbul and Berlin. I learned a great deal from them. You have tofilm quickly, not rehearsing too much, letting them evolve without overly "framing" them. It was a greatadventure for them - moreover for me as well. It allowed me to make a few wonderful discoveries:Derya, for example, who plays Mîna, turned out to be an exceptional actress and now wishes to pursuethe acting profession. I filmed a very complicated scene with her in one take, without rehearals,relyingsolely on her instinct. She is incredible.

Many other actors whom I like very much have already taken part in my previous films: EmmanuelCourcol my co-scriptwriter, Blandine Pélissier, Eric Herson-Macarel, Gilles Masson… And then Tatianahad me meet key people like Olivier Rabourdin, who plays the police lieutenant - a super complicated rolebecause we see 45 cops a day in TV shows and he had to find a way to make this one unconventional.Patrick Ligarde, the neighbor-informer, Thierry Godard, Jean-Pol Brissard, Yannick Renier…


As in many of your films, the set is a character in itself.

Philippe Lioret: Particularly for the public swimming pool which acts as a catalyst: not only does it evoke Simon's failedcareer as a swimming champion, but it is also where Bilal learns to swim with the hope of crossing theChannel.

It was very important for me to film right at the actual places where the action occurs. When you shoot inreal places, you tell the story better: the streets of Calais, the gigantic Trans-Channel port, Blériot beachand its nonstop ferries coming and going…all these atmospheres give the film its truthful nature. In orderto emphasize this realistic aspect, the producer Christophe Rossignon and I made a point of not goingto shoot in the Czech Republic or in Romania, as often happens for budgetary reasons. The film greatlybenefits from this decision.


The direction is omnipresent, yet the camera feels almost invisible.

Philippe Lioret: There aren't a whole lot of possibilities for the camera to shoot a scene well, so you have to find the rightone. I spend my time asking actors to be truthful, but the camera can also in its own way strike a "falsenote".

If the camera is too noticeable in a scene, if its movements are pointless or ornamental, you think: "Ohyes, it's make-believe" and I always have the impression that instead of gaining, you lose something.And then, as a moviegoer, when I like a film, it's as if I were given a gift. But if the work is too noticeable,then it gives me the feeling that the price tag was left on the package.


In the first 15 minutes of the film, it feels as if you are discovering an unknown world (in France).

Philippe Lioret: And yet so near. It's also a good thing at the cinema to discover the country we live in from another angle,one that we don't know. Concerning the problem of migrants, refugees and illegal aliens, an increasingnumber of television shows that are devoted to the subject end up getting lost in the media circus. Theend result is that all of these reports and debates, all of this indignation serves no purpose because theirmessage has been drowned out. So I prefer making a film, telling a story on the big screen of these twomen - and these two women - confronted with their emotions, in the middle of this whole mess. And atthe same time hoping to touch the viewer sitting in the dark, helping him or her to form their own opinionabout it all. And hoping that the film will stay with them for a while.