Dinner with Une sur trois

Interview with Cecilia de Arce, director of Une sur trois.

How did you come up with the idea for Une sur trois ?

Une sur Trois was my final project at the 3iS school, where I obtained a degree in direction. I wanted to make a film that dedramatized abortion and that involved a tale of a strong friendship. My inspiration is in part autobiographical.

Were you trying to create a 1980s feeling?

Absolutely not! That’s a funny question! However, with the production designer and my costume designer, we tried to reproduce the tastes of two young female art students of our generation, which I must admit is heavily influenced by references with a 1980s aesthetic.

What do you think of the feminist struggle and the right of abortion?

I fully support the feminist struggle and believe that abortion should be a right for all women.

Why were you interested in the period of life as a student?

Because I was and still am a student and this is a film with a strong autobiographical element.

Are you interested in the theme of friendship and do you think you might make other films based on this theme?

Yes, I am very interested in the theme of friendship. In fact, I wrote the script with one of my closest friends and wanted it to be interpreted by two actresses who were good friends in real life.

Are you also interested in the borders and gateways between childhood and adulthood? What do you think of the cultural rituals, often linked to religion, that accompany children towards adulthood and responsibilization?

As a young person, I think this is a question that concerns me directly. I am very fond of films that address this theme, because they fueled my adolescence, and to come back to your question about the 1980s, especially films by John Hughes.

Does the parent-child relationship interest you and do you foresee addressing this question in other films?

I don’t quite know how to answer that. It seemed important for Simone to speak about the abortion to her mother, because she needed her support. It was also a reminder that this is a question that concerns all generations.

When you wrote Une sur trois, did you wonder about the question of reciprocity in romantic relationships?

No, not at all. Moreover, I don’t really think it is a question of romantic relationships in the film.

How did you come up with the female characters? Do you see these young women more as liberated or domineering?

They are characters inspired from real life. My co-writers and I are accustomed to recording ourselves before writing the dialogues in order to reproduce as close as possible our way of speaking. Otherwise, and I think this goes without saying when you watch the film, the actresses put a lot of themselves into their characters. To say whether they were liberated or domineering, I would have liked to leave that up to them to respond. I suppose I won’t be able to shed any light on that question.

Do you think short film is effective in questioning the meaning of relationships and of “macro” social units?

It’s very difficult to paint a portrait of society in the short film format. I think the short film lends itself better to making short portraits of characters, or to developing a single idea or story.

Une sur trois was either produced, co-produced or self-financed with French funds. Did you write the film with this “French” aspect in mind: in building the film’s context or in questioning certain notions?

The name Simone simply comes from Simone Veil (and Zelda from Zelda Fitzgerald for those who are interested…). Aside from that, the subject echoed the anti-abortion demonstrations happening in Spain at the time we were developing the film rather than an issue in France.
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Une sur trois is being shown in National Competition F3.