Lunch with The Brother
Interview with Léa Triboulet, director of The Brother
What interested you in the relationship to grief?
The Brother explores the solitude of three sisters and their difficulties grappling with the loss of their brother. Contrasting absence and presence, we follow these characters in New Orleans, a city itself in a state of grief and rebuilding. I became interested in what happens after death: how to evoke and show loss along with its repercussions. And also how to talk about the incomprehensible aspects of death which these young girls face. The delicate emotions are rejected, interiorized, muted. Meanwhile, even after this tremendous loss, somehow life goes on.
Why did you want to make a film about the symbol of the older brother?
The older brother came to me when I was considering the relationship the sisters have with their family. This older brother, though still young, already lives in the world of adults. He spent much more time hanging around outside. Once the protection of their brother is gone, they discover a new, and much more cruel reality. In one scene, the friend of the eldest sister says « but now it’s just become a cruel world ».
Why did you choose only sisters around this brother? Could there not have been another brother?
I was interested in three sisters. When I met them, I wanted to film them. They represent three moments from childhood to adolescence: Clay’jel is 6, Alania, 12, and the eldest Keira is 16. I find beauty in their differences, and I wanted to showcase three young female figures. They make for a cohesive unit despite their strong independence from one another. I realized in the end that there is no masculine presence in the film. It is off screen. It was the faces of the sisters, their mother, and grandmother, that I came close to and chose to film.
Where did you shoot and why did you choose to set the action in this particular environment?
The Brother was written and shot in New Orleans, USA, during an Artist’s Residence I had the good fortune to participate in. It was three months in the Fall of 2015 (Deltaworkers Residence with the support of the Institut Français / Grand Est Region / City of Strasbourg). The shoot was over a few days in December at the end of my residence… The project began with a workshop on short filmmaking that I gave for a few months at a community center for a group of young people. There, I became close with Clay’jel, Alania, and Keira. I wrote the script based on their behavior and their routine. With a documentary approach, I created a fictional and poetic portrait of these three sisters. I was particularly moved by the presence of death and grief in New Orleans, and also what these girls go through in their daily lives: the violence that surrounds them, people going missing… It could be their brother, father, or uncle who never returns home…
Are you sensitive to the theme of absence and do you have other projects around this same theme?
I am very sensitive to grief. My previous short film Sofia B Slept Badly (Sofia B dormait mal) follows a teenage female orphan who goes looking for her grandmother who she has never met. Two strangers, each hurt by their past and their grief, two women who slowly open up to each other. I am currently writing a feature film script which is along the same lines as my previous work. It depicts women of different generations and their relationship to grief and to each other. And how one of the women manages to free herself from it.
Any cinematic coups de cœur in the past year you’d like to tell us about?
Cemetery of Splendour by Apichatpong Weerasethakul; Fuocoammare by Gianfranco Rosi; Peace to Us in Our Dreams by Sharunas Bartas…
If you’ve already been to Clermont-Ferrand, could you share with us an anecdote from the festival? If not, what are your expectations for this year?
Talking cinema, meeting people for new collaborations and projects, seeing and being surprised by new short films… I can’t wait!
The Brother will be screened at Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. Are any other screenings scheduled?
Yes, it was selected at the 46th Rotterdam International Film Festival (Voices Short Films) and at the 27th New Orleans Film Festival.
Are you taking part in any other events during the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival (Espressos, conferences, other)?
Yes, a meeting with the public will happen on Wednesday, February 8th, from 7-8pm at Le Rio movie theater (just after the screening of the F8 program at 5pm).
The Brother is being shown in National Competition F8.
