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2007 Festival Short Films (March 30 - April 1)

French director Cédric Kahn presents the U.S. premiere of L’Avion.

director Cédric Kahn screenwriter Cédric Kahn, Ismael Ferrouhki, Gilles Marchand, raphaelle Valbrune, Denis Lapéire based on the comic book Charly et Cap’tain Foudre by Magda Séron and Denis Lapière producers Marc Missonier, Olivier Delbosc (Fidélité Productions), Akkord Film Produktion starring Isabelle Carré, Vincent Lindon, Roméo Botzaris running time 100 min
general audience

Description

Little Charly is terribly disappointed by his Christmas present. Instead of the bicycle that he was so eagerly expecting, his father Pierre gives him the prototype of a plane that he has built himself. Several days later, Pierre disappears in a tragic accident. Shortly after, the model comes to life.

An extraordinary bond develops between the child and this mysterious toy, whose fascinating powers soon captures the attention of Charly’s mom Catherine, and arouses the envy of a former colleague of Charly’s father.

Determined to hang on to his father’s very last gift, Charly is about to experience an incredible adventure, and his dream of seeing his father one more time just might come true.

Critiques du film

« Un film fantastique (…) Cédric Kahn a enlevé le superflu. Reste la pureté métaphysique du genre. »
– Vincent Ostria pour L’Humanité

« Unconte lumineux, éclairé par l’interprétation de ses jeunes acteurs. »
– Alain Spira pour Paris Match

« Le pari est gagné haut la main et le cinéaste en profite pour explorer ce qui lui était assez étranger jusqu’ici: l’émotion. »
– Claire Vassé pour Zurban

« Un film dont la simplicité déroutante abrite des zones d’ombres qui donnent à réfléchir et à aimer. »
– Olivier de Bruyn pour Première

director/screenwriter
Cédric Kahn

actress
Isabelle Carré

actor/screenwriter
Vincent Lindon

The film is based on the comic strip Charly et Cap’tain Foudre

Conversation with Cédric Kahn (director)

I’d dreamt of making a film with a child for a long time. I wanted to make a film my kids could see. This project came along at a perfect time. When I read the screenplay I was immediately seduced by the idea. I knew this story was for me. It touched on all the themes I hold dear: denial of death, escaping reality, the power of the imagination and the search for one’s father.

I wanted the film to speak to both children and adults. It took a lot of work to attain the illusion of simplicity. I was fearful that the subject matter would make the film too serious, too dark. I wanted to strike a balance between lightness and profundity. Children actually have fewer taboos about death than we do. They don’t dwell on the drama. For them, the film is an adventure. For adults, however, it’s more of a melodrama. As I worked on this film, it became increasingly important to me. It took me back to my childhood and put me in touch with myself. Before, I had always done dark films with complex, impulsive characters who are prisoners of their own contradictions. I was always very involved in the subject matter but kept emotion at a safe distance. But with this story I knew I would have to open up and show my feelings. This film is the most expensive and complicated film I’ve ever directed, and yet at times I felt like I was making my first film again.

I was really nervous when I showed the film to my children. They told me they liked it, but I’m their father and maybe they just wanted to make me happy! We also showed the film to two groups of kids between [the ages of] eight and 10, and I can’t tell you how moving it was for me to see those 70 little faces riveted to the screen, and to hear them laugh and shudder and vibrate with the film.

I liked the fact that this was a film for children, a kind of minimalist fairy tale, very streamlined. I was also seduced by the mother-son relationship, and the purity and simplicity of the dialogues and situations.

Projects about childhood interest me. My character is a young woman who is both very much in love with her husband and highly fulfilled as a mother. It’s also the story of a child trying to escape his mother’s sorrow. When we’re little and we discover that adults also have weaknesses, that they feel pain and can cry, we are profoundly marked by this. It feels like the world is falling apart around us. We have to find a way to adapt to this new reality.

For me, this film was a luminous, human interlude — very pure. The scenes we shot on the Dune du Pilat best illustrate what the film means to me. We were working with a skeleton crew, so the children wouldn’t be distracted, and this is quite unusual. I loved the experience.

Charly by Roméo Botzaris

One day, when I was coming home from school, a lady came up to me on the street. She looked me over and asked me if I’d like to pass an audition. At first I wasn’t sure. I never thought of being in a movie and I didn’t even know how they were made. My parents said we could at least go check it out.

The first time I went, they asked me to imitate an animal. Everyone was really nice and I decided I liked doing this. They asked me back a few times and I met Cédric. I memorized some lines, and he asked me to act sad or amazed, lots of things. The more I went, the more I wanted them to pick me.

Cédric is the one who called me. He said, “You’re the one we chose, do you want to do the film?” I said yes! Cédric gave me the screenplay. I liked the story. Charly loves his father and mother the way I love my parents. I also liked the idea of having a magic toy.

For me it was like a game, it was really fun. What I liked the best were the chase scenes and action scenes. My favorite scene of all was the scene where I fly with the plane. Now I know how many people you need to make a film and how much work it takes. At the end of the shoot, they gave me one of the airplanes from the film. It’s hanging in my bedroom, kind of like in the story, and sometimes at night, when I go to sleep, I dream it starts moving all by itself.