logo_white_hd
logo_white_cube_hd
Contact Press
logo_white_hd
  • La Jetée

    Clermont-Ferrand

    • Documentation Center
    • Regular Events
    • Short film screenings
    • Training
    • Seminars
    • All Shorts
  • Short Film 2 > 10 FEB

    Festival

    • Overview
    • Participate
      • Submit a film
      • Become a volunteer
      • Survival guide for newcomers
      • Professionals
      • Ticket OfficeCLOSED
    • Discover more
      • La Brasserie du court
      • Le Trombino
      • Catalogues
      • Shop
      • Our commitments
    • Useful information
      • Coming to Clermont-Ferrand
      • Accomodation
      • Restaurants
      • Festival Locations
    • Archives
  • Short Film 5 > 8 FEB.

    Market

    • Overview
    • MEDIA Rendez-vous
    • Euro Connection
    • Shortfilmwire+
    • Participate
      • On site
      • Remotely
    • Pro Reception Desk
    • Prepare my visit
  • Short Film

    Circulation
    • Circuit Court
    • Screen festival programs
    • Plein Champ Network
    • Shortfilmdepot
  • Education and

    Training
    • Upcoming events
    • Actions
      • Young audience screenings
      • Educational workshops
      • Anatomies
      • L’Atelier
      • Young critics competition
        • Young critics competition 2018
        • Young critics competition 2017
      • Ciné en herbe
      • 16th Educational Encounters
    • Devices
      • Culture at the hospital
      • Culture in prison
      • Kindergarten at the cinema
      • High school at the cinema
      • Cinema sections
    • Training
      • Short Film Festival
      • Teaching cinema
      • School and cinema
      • Middle school at the cinema
      • High school at the cinema
      • Cinema sections
      • PREAC cinema
      • University
      • MIRE / ESPE
    • Resources
      • Educational tools
      • Transmission impossible
      • Le fil des images
      • Transmettre le cinéma
      • Ressources by film
      • Côté Court – LDVTV
        • Côté Court 2019
        • Côté Court 2018
        • Vu en court 2017
        • Vu en court 2016
        • Vu en court 2015
        • Vu en court 2014
        • Vu en court 2013
        • Vu en court 2012
  • Auvergne

    Film Commission
    • Film desk
      • Missions and operations
      • Films shot in Auvergne
      • Auvergne in numbers
    • Your locations in Auvergne
      • Photo gallery
      • Search a location
      • Host a location
    • Creation funds
      • Residences
      • Production funds
      • Development funds
    • Pro Area
  • News
  • Archives
  • About us
  • Team
  • Partners
  • Advertisement

© Sauve qui peut le court métrage

Legal Mentions | Privacy

  • EN
  • FR

Nightcap with Palma

28 January 2021
Festival, Meeting with…
  • Palma_2-RVB

 

Interview with Alexe Poukine, director of Palma

Can you explain your choice of title?
During the preparatory stages and the shooting of the film, the project was called Kiki, after the class mascot. The film was written as a tragi-comedy, but the project went through a transformation as time went on. At the end of editing, we realized that the original title didn’t really correspond anymore to the film, which ended up more dramatic than I had first imagined. We decided to call it Palma because that is the name of the town where the two heroines spend the weekend, but also because that evokes the image of the palm tree. It was a nod to the mother’s search to take the best photos possible of Kiki, to make her look like a wonderful mother.

Is there anything autobiographical about the film? What prompted you to tell the story of Jeanne and to explore the relationship between the mother and daughter on this trip?
This film is born from my desire to replay an episode that I had a few years ago with my daughter. I was in a very difficult place both emotionally and financially and I decided to leave for Mallorca on a whim because I couldn’t stand the thought of my daughter having to present a life that I didn’t like and that I was ashamed of in front of her entire class, with pictures to back it up. The idea was there. Then I just had to push the fiction sliders a little bit. It was first of all to make fun of me a little (in the style of “a fault confessed is half redressed”). And especially to talk about motherhood in another way. It was important to me to present this woman neither as an abusive mother nor as a brave mother, but simply as someone who does what she can, who wants to be up to the task and does not always succeed.

The film is very touching, and you can feel the sorrows and frustrations of the mother and the little girl. What did you want to communicate to your audience?
I believe that motherhood is one of the major topics that cinema (but also literature, song, etc.) should tackle. The (often male) regard on mothers is sometimes quite stereotyped, I find. I wanted to show a normal woman with ordinary feelings – grief, frustration, but also tenderness. I do not recognize myself very much in the portraits of hysterical, abusive or sacrificial mothers. I wanted to try to film a mother who looked like the ones I know and not like an archetypal model.

Tell us about the casting.
The desire to make this film was born from the desire to film my daughter. Since she is very reserved, I thought it would be easier to play the role of her mother myself. Finally, after several attempts, we realized that it was very difficult for her to distinguish between our relationship and that of the characters in the film. And I think I wanted to see her act more than she really wanted to act. So we decided to find another little girl, and for reasons of budget and ease, I kept the role of Jeanne. We did casting tests with several little girls. Lua Michel is the daughter of a filmmaker friend. I went to her house, we were alone and we started playing. I knew right away that I had found Vanya’s character. Lua really likes to act and she is so precise and exact that it is hard to look bad when acting with her. I am very honoured that she accepted to act in my film. The other characters play their own role. The two Spanish landladies are the ladies I rented a room from at the time, for example. I contacted them again for the film. The young man I meet during my night wandering is a friend of Marta, the manager. We wanted to film a group of teenagers but we were so late that I preferred to cancel. At 2am or 3am, he arrived. I just asked him to buy me a beer. Nothing was written. None of the actors read the script. Besides, we shot several parts of the film almost like a documentary, with a very small team and using what reality offered us as surprises.

What would you like to explore next as a director? Would you like to work on other short films and tackle feature length films?
I’m starting to get too old to make short films, no one is going to want to produce me anymore ;)! I’m in the process of writing two feature-length fiction films and I’m working on a new documentary. These upcoming films are about female emancipation and motherhood once again.

What do you think the future holds for short films?
I have the impression that there will be more and more, and that they will be less and less standardized. More and more people film and edit, and make super free and unique films. The most difficult, I think, is sometimes to keep this freedom (of tone and shape) when moving to the feature-length format.

If we were to go back into lockdown, what cultural or artistic delights would you recommend to alleviate our boredom?
I hope we don’t!!!!… but if we do, I would recommend Sarah Gubbins’ I Love Dick series with Kevin Bacon and Kathryn Hahn. It is a marvel, in my opinion. And Drunk by Thomas Vinterberg. I started reading comics during the first lockdown. I didn’t know anything about them. I loved comics by Alessandro Pignocchi for example.

Palma is being shown in National Competition F7.

#ClermontFF21, Alexe Poukine, cinema, clermont-ferrand, court métrage, director, entretien, filmmaker, interview, Palma, réalisateur, réalisatrice, rencontre, short film
Networks
Festival Newsletter
Recent posts
  • An open letter from the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival to Laurent Wauquiez, President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Council

    15 May 2023
  • Press release: Don’t Stop Us Now

    13 May 2023
  • Short talk – Sara Gunnarsdóttir

    14 February 2023
  • Short talk – Vytautas Katkus

    13 February 2023
  • Short talk – Camille Authouart

  • Short talk – Alica Bednáriková

    10 February 2023
  • Short talk – Frédéric Bélier-Garcia

  • Short talk – Osman Cerfon

  • Short talk – Anja Jovanović

    9 February 2023
Blog
Nightcap with Nantong Nights
Dîner avec Palma
  • EN
  • FR
Ville de Clermont-Ferrand Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Département du Puy-de-Dôme Clermont Métropole CNC Ministère de la culture et de la communication Europe Media
All partners
Clermont ISFF | Nightcap with Palma | Clermont ISFF
class="post-template-default single single-post postid-36808 single-format-standard samba_theme samba_left_nav samba_left_align samba_responsive thvers_95 wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-6.7.0 vc_responsive"
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Gérer le consentement

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo