Guillaume Gevart directed the fiction film Yearning Rose in 2019 whose main actors are Jean Poulet-Chays, Chris Biandonga and Delphine Allard. It tells the story of Max a marketing intern who meets Rose, a young law student, he will try to seduce her through many lies. The film has the distinction of having been shot in 7 days and with a very low budget of € 12,000. Today at JustFocus.fr, we found its director for an unprecedented interview, he tells us the rise of a film resembling a basic school project and which ended up distributed on Amazon prime video.
Hello Mr. Gevart, can you present your film with your words and tell us about the genesis of the project ?
Hello Sir, well Yearning Rose is a romantic film, which, beyond the product as such, remains a human adventure that I was able to share with my friends (Antoine Godet and Dylan Besseau) with whom I founded the agency Artwooks Media in 2020, it was our beginnings and at the time I worked at Okamedia, Thanks to the money I earned I was able to finance this first film. See also: Director Dylan Besseau in the footsteps of Thierry Mauvignier
Once the 12,000 euros in your pocket, you started producing it, but why did you choose only 7 days to shoot ?
I am a great admirer of the director Jean-Pierre Mocky and he used to make his films in a very short time, it’s what I call the « fast-movie ». Today, everything is bombarded with artifice, everything is very smooth, days of filming can cost hundreds of thousands of euros. In 2019, I was going through a rather complicated period in my life, I had just finished my studies and I had a teacher who belittled me all the time, I saw in the lens of his Afflelou glasses juxtaposed on his balding skull, the reflection of my lost esteem. Then with friends, I made a bet after a very alcoholic game of Monopoly, that I could be able to make a feature film in 7 days regardless of the result, and that’s what I did, it was a kind of therapy to regain confidence in myself.
Given the quality of the final project, we still feel that there must have been some constraints, which ones ?
Indeed, I do not yet have the talent of Robert Rodriguez with his famous « El Mariachi », but I wanted to please myself and people who love crafts, as Jean-Luc Godard said « we make films that will be seen only by our entourage ». Far be it from the idea of comparing myself to this size of French cinema, but with the intention we are getting closer to that. I didn’t want to compete with big productions, just make a film with the means and passion I had.
You talk about Jean-Luc Godard precisely on the idea that the film will only be seen in small groups, but recently your film was distributed on Prime Video, what was your reaction ?
I was terribly disappointed! No I’m kidding, I was stunned and pleasantly surprised, I didn’t think Prime Video would accept my film. As a director, we always focus on the flaws of our works, but if they liked it, then so much the better! Now I know I can do better, the whole team has improved a lot since then and this film was a kind of experimental project so that everyone could train, and it opened a door that allowed me to distribute my friend Dylan Besseau’s documentary on Prime video. Y
As you said before, this project was a kind of experiment, you surely made a lot of mistakes, can you tell us more ?
Well, for the sake of budget we did not do a storyboard for example, which results in a lot of false connections that I find quite funny now. It has a lot of flaws I understand, many could call it abject, bad, but I laugh about it, I know that it was my first film and that the next one will have nothing to do with technique. Most of the budget was allocated to actors, as the work and time invested must be rewarded.
Speaking of technique, what were your inspirations in making this film ?
I was inspired by Thomas Vinterberg’s dogma95 in the camera side, the image a little vintage and also in improvisation. I really like the real style, I hate configurations that take too long to set up that’s why we feel it in my film. Beautiful images are not for me, I want natural.
We find the presence of some actors such as Jean-Poulet Chays but also Delphine Allard that you have probably met in the web-series « Wesh la school » directed by Yacetom. There is also a small intervention by Fry3000 (Youtuber specializing in nanars films) who plays Max’s boss. Watch Fry3000’s YouTube channel What did you think of your actors’ performance ?
So to tell you the truth, given my career I do not have to be demanding on this point, I try to have correct actors and I do not pretend to judge them, as I do their best. I know that Jean-Poulet told me that he was not at the top on the first part of the film, but it does not matter. He is an actor who takes his first steps, and if my film has served him to improve then my work is done. For Chris Biandonga he is great! Very pro, it offers a lot and it’s very pleasant. Delphine is also amazing for another reason that I will tell you later if I have the opportunity.
We see that it was easy for you to find your actors, was it the same for the places ?
For the places it was rather simple, we shot everything in Nantes. Some scenes were filmed at the home of the parents of our real assistant Henri Dando, he is a childhood friend, he is lucky to have a very large house that fit perfectly with the idea I had made. We also shot in Mr and Mrs. Mrs. Haussmann’s Haussmannian apartment.Avot that they have since sold to move into a castle in the countryside, they are friends of my family. We also shot a few scenes in front of my in-laws’ mansion.
Do you have any anecdotes to share with us ?
Of course, did you know that the actress who plays Rose was not the one we chose at the beginning. Finally I explain, our initial actress had a setback, the first day of shooting she had to go home to Paris, so our actor Chris Biandonga was able to find us Delphine Allard in the space of an hour. Delphine came the same afternoon and learned her lines in a few hours! We were then able to start shooting a morning late, but Delphine did an incredible job, in one night she memorized all the text for the week. It’s a performance that will always impress me. For the main character Max, he had to be played by the actor Edouard Sulpice, unfortunately the dates fell on the same niche as his shooting « Des Hommes » by Lucas Belvaux, a film that was adapted from the eponymous book written by Laurent Mauvignier, a height when you know that you spent the summer with your brother the year after!
And in all this what do your loved ones think ?
Many do not really understand what I do, and I understand them, making a film is always very complicated, people do not realize the work and the psychological load that it implies, even for a very small work of 5 minutes there is always a lot to do upstream, so I don’t have too much time to worry about what people think, I know Yearning Rose is not the movie of the year, but it has brought me a lot of things on certain levels like friends who have always supported me, it has also taught me to become more humble and aware of my own abilities. We tend to get fired up quickly when it comes to cinema, but experience makes us realize that it’s a long way to go with a lot of lows, but highs that are worth it.
What are your upcoming projects ?
I don’t want to talk about it now, because as a friend said « talking about your projects doesn’t make them move faster, and if they don’t happen you look like an idiot ».
Aha that’s well said, a word for the end ?
I particularly wanted to thank my friends Antoine Godet and Dylan Besseau, without whom all this would not be possible, as well as all the technical team and all the people who contributed directly or indirectly to the development of this film. And above all, make movies! Whatever it takes, do it if that’s what drives you, no matter if you are taken for an idiot, trace your path!
It is with these last words that we hang up the phone and let the young director go about his business, if the release in France is not for now, the film is already available on Amazon Prime Video.
