Interview with Marie Losier, director of Which Is Witch?

Could you explain the title for us?
The title is a play on words in English, which is my dominant language, and it’s quite musical to pronounce. The three sisters are shamans, i.e. witches, and which one will manage to wake the prince? Which is witch? Also, my friend Claire Doyon, who’s in the film, helped me come up with the title! 

What prompted you to choose Ludwig II of Bavaria as the focus of the film?
Felix Kubin wanted to do a scene for the film Felix in Wonderland where he was Ludwig of Bavaria, who was a patron to artists and composers and who was a free spirit; he was mad and inspired by music. Felix has always been enchanted by Ludwig of Bavaria, and that prompted me to come up with a scene around that fairytale castle and come up with the scene with the three sisters. Every year, Felix also goes to the castle with his daughter, so he had to become Ludwig of Bavaria in my film, except that the scene didn’t work out as we were editing my mid-length film Felix in Wonderland so it was cut. And then we pulled it out for Which Is Witch?

Tell us a bit about your cinematographic choices. What motivated your experimental style?
The rushes that make up the little film Which Is Witch? are leftovers from the feature Felix in Wonderland and, as with all of my films, I do the framing, the cinematography. That’s my way of filming and all my films have that “experimental” touch, which is a slightly strange word for me since it’s too much of a catch-all and it’s too reductive nowadays, I find. On the other hand, for that particular scene, I was lucky to have a grant and a production budget to film the scenes for Which Is Witch? in Nanterre, in the theater with a film crew for the first time, so there was a great little crew including Pascale Granel on the lighting and as the camera assistant, and a bunch of other wonderful assistants and collaborators. Like Bertrand Mandico who wrote a nice text for each sister (even though they didn’t make it through editing) and who I talked to a lot to create the decor and the idea of the scenes with the three sisters. The support and interactions were great.

What do you think the future holds for short films?
I’ve never really thought in terms of shorts and features; I definitely make mostly shorts, which is a format I love and that I’ll always be passionate about. I hope everyone who loves to make short films or makes them keeps doing that and that they continue to be shown, put in programs and promoted and supported by the festival machinery, by production companies or just plain creation. 

If we were to go back into lockdown, what cultural or artistic delights would you recommend to alleviate our boredom?
It’s too hard to answer. I want culture to return to cinemas, theaters, concerts, dance, museums. I want everything to return. We dry up if we don’t see or touch or share anything… It’s tough giving advice about cultural delights… Apart from trying to create, to work however you can, and making little things to keep your dreams, your imagination and sense of play and laughter from dying… Little things that give so much to your heart, to practice, to life.

Which Is Witch? is being screened as part of National Competition F8.