A Film by Jean-Jacques Jauffret

92 MINUTES/ FRANCE/ 2011/ FRENCH/ COLOR/ NOT RATED

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LOGLINE

During one hot summer afternoon, the lives of four characters tragically intersect.

SHORT SYNOPSIS

A modern drama freely based on real events. One sweltering afternoon in the south of France, four lives intersect: those of Stéphane and Luigi, two cousins barely out of adolescence, Georges, a retired worker, Amelie, Luigi's girlfriend, and Anne, Amelie's mother. Four mundane lives full of PAIN, humiliation, fear and fatigue that converge on a series of tragic events.

" I want to discover and reveal the hidden facade. I want to go back to the denied beginning, test in full it’s consistency, one of glory, of mud and of blood, to be able to stand victoriously against violence, ambition and pettiness, to the laws of civilized man. I want to talk of impure love, before it was raised onto the altar of virtue. I say no when they say yes, this is my only engagement." - Jorge Amado

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The film interweaves four everyday lives made up of incidents that little by little converge towards a tragedy one summer afternoon in marseilles. The small injuries, the fears, the humiliations, the fatigue and the heat contribute to the mechanics that lead to the tragic death of Luigi.

The film is constructed in several movements, much like a musical composition, within which several themes deploy, repeat and then finally reinterpret themselves. Three journeys intersect, to which ones then adds the journey of Anne, in a transverse itinerary: those of Stéphane and Luigi, two cousins barely out of adolescence, Georges, a retired worker, and Amelie, Luigi’s girlfriend. The three young people are confronted for the first time with the real world. Much like a police recreation, the action of the story is retold with the same characters after the original drama has passed.

Aprés le sud treats the divide between the adolescent world and the adult world - an exploration of amusement, carelessness and passions in love, versus ideas of authority, consequence and responsibilities. The rift between these two worlds also contributes to the insidious construction of the narrative. the intention is to show an often harsh, acidic reality - one that can injure the body and crush the soul. These bodies that leave visible, in their bareness, the muted scars of a war against the humiliations of authority. Far-reaching clichés on the life of the cities, these iniquitous zones, the film reveals little by little the mechanics of the tragedy. there probably exists thousands of Georges’ and Luigi’s across all of the cities in France, but after the heat wave, facing these walls between them, a single Georges will kill a single Luigi.

And if one had not constructed the drama… If Luigi did not have to work this summer… If Stéphane had not smoked in the factory… If the foreman had not slapped his son… If Amelie had not gone to bed with Luigi… And if she had not picked up Georges by the side of the road… If Georges had not stolen the disc… IF it had not happened…

- Jean-Jaques Jauffret

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY

Jean-jacques Jauffret began his careeer as an assistant director on the films of Reemerge Féret, Jean-claude Biette, Karim Dridi, Sylvie Durepère, Osawa, Jean- jacques Kahn, and Jean-louis Skorecki. He then worked with Cyril Collard, beginning with the television drama Taggers until Collard’s final feature film, Les nuits fauves. In 1995, Jauffret began Executive Producing, most notably on films such as Les démons de jésus by Bernie Bonvoisin, Sous les pieds des femmes by Rachida Krim, and Déjà vu by François Vautier. During this time he also directed two short films, Tout le monde est parfait and Je sais que c'était un Jeudi, as well as the documentary Voyage D’ORIENT: le Bleu de Fez. Since 2003 he has been signed to l’ESRA (Superior School of Broadcasting Realization). Aprés le sud is his feature film debut.                    

                           

   

Crew  Director: Jean-Jacques Jauffret  Producers: Nadège Hasson, Antonin Dedet, Jean-Stèphane Sauvaire  Director of Photography: Samuel Dravet  Editor: Lise Beaulieu  Design: Jacques Pellissier  Music: Mozart, Giovanna Marini  Sound: Benjamin Jaussaud  

Cast ADELE HAENEL Debuting in Céline Sciamma’s Waterlilies (2007), Adele next appeared in Bertrand Bonello’s L'apollonide (2010) and most recently Jean-Jacques Jauffret’s Après le sud (Heatwave). (2011). She will next appear in the film Confession of a Child of the Century by Sylvie Verheyde. ULYSSE GROSJEAN In 2009, Ulysse Grosjean acted in Patrice Leconte’s Beauties At War. In 2011, the year of graduating, he toured with Arnaud Selignac in an episode of Doc Martin. He was then given his first dramatic role in Jean-Jacques Jauffret’s Après le sud (Heatwave). SYLVIE LACHAT Trained in the theater in Viriot, Sylvie Lachat has acted in various comedies for television and film. In Après le sud (Heatwave), Jean-Jacques Jauffret has given him his first major role.

YVES RUELLAN Trained for the stage at Jean-Felix Cuny, Yves Ruellan worked with Stanislas Nordey, Bernard Sobel, Arnaud Meunier, and Christine Letailleur.

Interview with director, Jean-Jaques Jauffret Aprés le sud is based on a true story. Why this story rather than another for your first feature film? Jean-Jacques Jauffret: Yes the film is inspired by real events that blacken the pages of our newspapers. There are many stories that inspired me and that share in a similar kind of tragedy. Perhaps one that haunts me most is the death of Frank Oberti, killed at age 20 by a gunshot during an evening supper in the village where I grew up. More than anything, Frank Oberti was my childhood friend... It seems that what you want to convey are not just facts but rather the circumstances that lead to such events? JJJ: The film does not attempt to explain why, but to explore the complexity of a tragedy. The actions that take place in the last hours before a tragedy. I show characters who face a tough but rarely spectacular everyday life. Among clichés of city life, the film slowly reveals the mechanics of the tragedy.Through the writing, I looked to construct a tragedy to resonate in every detail. Gradually, I realized that the film tell stories of humiliation, often those that punctuate our days. Do you have a working method? Especially with your actors? How did you chose them? JJJ: The choice was very different for the four main actors. Adele Haenel was obvious to me, I had seen her in Waterlilies by Céline Sciamma and I knew that it corresponded to the role of Amelia.I had seen Yves Ruellan, who plays George, in the theater with Stanislas Nordey, Arnaud Meunier and Bernard Sobel. So when I started writing, I thought a bit to him. Ulysse Grosjean, who plays Luigi, participated in the casting process. He had in him something very Pasolini. Sylvie Lachat, who plays Anne's mother, Amelia, was presented to me by an actor friend, Pierre Pirol. For months I was looking for this female character with a strong build. It was very difficult to find because the role demanded her to lay bare both literally and figuratively. Many actresses refused to play as this character. Sylvie knew immediately that this was not to be in voyeurism but rather to show the journey of a woman who finally takes its difference. Sylvie is a rare beauty and I kept wanting to film her. The direction of the cast also varies with each actor but I always try to give them my support to impose their ideas. Sometimes I talk to them during the take (it does not always please the sound engineer, but he accepts it because he understands that this is my way). My job is to manage to create a space where they can meet and live with the character between "action" and "cut". Before and after I do not ask them anything. I do not do a lot of repetition. How did you meet with your producers? What was your relationship to them? Why a co-production? JJJ: I have not met "producers" to make this film. Jean Stéphane Sauvaire was my assistant when I myself was acting in Cyril Collard's Les nuits fauves. We

formed Explicit Films to mark his own achievements as director on Johnny Mad Dog. Nadège Hasson was producing a film for ARTE Fiction on which I worked as Executive Producer. They were both familiar with the project Aprés le sud. It was Jean Stéphane who had the idea to develop within Explicit, and we joined with them. I liked having a producer who is also a director. Nadège had this experience with documentary, and I knew that for a first film he was able to work in reality sometimes close to the documentary. She was an obvious choice to lead this project, which she did. The co-production with Neon (Antonin Dedet) is from our home in Marseille. The PACA region immediately supported the film, and it seemed important to have an executive producer in Marseille. An executive producer who believed in the project and was soon joined in the venture as co-producer. A shoot complicated to implement? Concerns, anecdotes? Did you look for specific settings? JJJ: I often say that I have an advantage in finding solutions in preparation, as I was an assistant for a very long time. But in fact this is not true. It really is about the team with me in order to implement the shooting. It often works itself out, but as a filmmaker, it is not always certain whether it will be possible to use a location as a setting or not. Sometimes it's complicated and we do not have permissions. I wanted this movie back to go back to the red bauxite rock mines of my childhood. Around Brighton, the town where I was born, there were a large bauxite mining area that closed in the 80's. Everything was red - roads, fields, railroads ... colored ore region. This red disappeared with the end of mining. We searched and found the one ore dock at Port St. Louis du Rhone. The boats unloading bauxite and it is like on Mars. I found the red of my childhood. What were your choices for installation? JJJ: I write and block in a very structured way, which is sometimes dangerous for executing. The frames are carefully chosen and with fairly precise cutting. If it does not work, we do not have many alternatives. One day with Lise Beaulieu, editor of the film, we tried to intervene on the structure of the narrative. It is constructed with spiral temporalities that intersect and there is a recurring theme in a piece of music. That day we realized that we had to work while respecting the original structure. This constraint required a precision in the lengths of shots and sequences. Lise has revealed to me that I had made a movie for the characters, the film was written with them, their journeys, never trying to tell anything other than the situations they were living. Director's Fortnight is a recognition? A goal? A nice step? JJJ: Recognition but surely not a goal. I did not say I'll make Aprés le sud for Fortnight but being selected for Cannes, this fills me with joy. The first movie I saw at Cannes when I was a student, was in Fortnight. It was the hit of Stephen Frears. A nice step ... I'll tell you later ... I hope so!

Festivals Cannes Film Festival Director's Fortnight Francophone Film Festival de Namurcophone Sao Paulo International Film Festival Leeds International Film Festival Exground Film Festival Zlín Film Festival Festival int'l du cinéma francophone en Acadie Cine Premieres French Film Festival RegioFun Film Festival Film Festival By the Sea Calgary International Film Festival Festival Du Film Francais de Sofia Press Quotes “Slice of Gallic suburbia boosted by clever structuring and a strong lead performance.” – The Hollywood Reporter