In August 2021, director Thierry Mauvignier made his latest work entitled "The legend of the assassin lords". Dylan Besseau followed him throughout his shoot to make a documentary.
The legend of the murderous lords
Here is the title given by Thierry Mauvignier to his latest short film inspired by a Poitevin legend that he re-wrote with his brother: Laurent Mauvignier, writer several times awarded for his works and who saw his book "Des Hommes" recently adapted to the cinema in June 2021, by director Lucas Belvaux with Gérard Depardieu as the headliner, Jean-Pierre Darroussin and Catherine Frot, Thierry Mauvignier wanted to tell through his work all the vices that modern man could have in him. To carry out his project, he surrounded himself with renowned actors from his region such as Frans Boyer, Yannick Jaulin but also Joël Pyrène, Franck Beckmann and Michel Cordeboeuf.
From Strip-Tease to The Legend of Thierry Mauvignier
It all began in April 2021, when director Dylan Besseau organized a
party at his home, with director Guillaume Gevart and Salomé Mauvignier Thierry's daughter . They chat over a few beers, then Salomé evokes the idea of shooting a making-of on her father's project. "It was a time when I was watching a lot of shows like Strip-Tease on YouTube, when they told me about the project I was a little drunk, I gave myself a week to think about it as usual, to see if it was impulsive or a good idea," Dylan tells us. It is then that he contacts Thierry to tell him about his project, it seems interested and agrees to bring Dylan Besseau and his technical team on the set. "Thierry is a great person" "I was inspired by the real side found in the Strip-Tease shows and also highlight the humanist side and desacralize the world of cinema, a bit like the director Philippe Leynaud did in his documentary
Making Mocky" says the young director timidly, "Thierry is a great person, we spent a day together in the forest of Moulière before his shooting, I found him very calm, he inspires a sympathy that I appreciate a lot and in addition to being humble he is someone very organized! He also explains that his actors present showed great humanity and were very warm, we found a Yannick Jaulin playful and very funny off set. 
"Dylan Besseau is someone who always has lots of ideas and knows where he wants to
go" To realize this project it was necessary for Dylan, to equip himself with three cameras and his sidekick of always, the director of photography Antoine Godet, a young Vendéen of 26 years. "These are people I'm used to working with, we all started together, Dylan is someone who always has lots of ideas and knows where he wants to go, we start from a simple idea of making-of to finish on a feature film of 70 minutes. He has contributed a lot to our careers with Guillaume, I owe him a lot, even if I know that he does not expect anything from us in return and that he does it for pleasure to share with others. If our paths were to separate in the future, I will certainly not forget it. "His documentary is a reflection of what he sees, he manages to bring out qualities in people that they themselves had never noticed, let's say he sees the glass half full."
"Aformer friend sends me a text message to tell me to watch the movie
Mademoiselle by Park-Chan Wook"
Indeed, after obtaining his general baccalaureate ES at the Lycée de Bretagne, Dylan Besseau began a course in law school to become a lawyer. "I was very bored during class, I had trouble holding on to what the teachers were saying, then one Saturday morning when I was at home, an old friend sent me a text message telling me to watch the movie Miss Park-Chan Wook," says the 24-year-old. Already fond of cinema from a very young age, this film was a revelation for him. "Whether it's photography, music, history, I was totally transported and even today I still wonder how a simple human being with two arms and two legs, can make this kind of masterpiece." Dylan exclaims. 
From law school to Artwooks Media
Dylan then began a course in audiovisual school in Nantes, he followed a two-year training in video editing and video production, he met Antoine Godet and Guillaume Gevart, with whom he founded in 2019, the Nantes audiovisual agency Artwooks Media which now has 6 members. The name is a tribute to art and Park Chan-Wook, but also a variant of the English word Artworks. They begin to offer their services through video editing and then over time move towards directing, first the clip then the short film to finally arrive at feature films.
"I still have a long way to go"
"We start first with documentary because it's less expensive than
fiction and it allows us to get our hands dirty, my goal is really to do Festivals, for the moment my level is very very far from what they expect. Let's say that I still have a long way to go" humbly tells us the young director who considers himself to be behind the starting line while the others are already three laps ahead. To achieve this goal, the director has the ambition to surround himself with professionals in the field "it's a lot of investment at the beginning, because you have to do the site, the design of the site, prospect people, even the poster of my documentary I had to do it alone because the budget was limited and I could not not afford the services of a graphic designer, but for the next projects I intend to expand the team, we will invest in an Alexa camera but keep our DSLRs for documentaries, "he tells us, while keeping in mind that it is not the material
that makes the artist.
What's next for this Nantes director?
Dylan Besseau is preparing several projects including a documentary on Parisian youth
with actress Léa Lee, he says "she was one of the first professional actresses
to trust us. She could very well have snubbed us, which she did not do and I thank her again today, redoing a project with her is to express our gratitude to her." This documentary will be distributed to Arte.
He is also preparing another documentary with a YouTuber whose name will be kept quiet
to keep the surprise… "I am young, healthy, I still have many things to do, and do not forget, if you have a dream in mind, dedicate your whole life to achieving it and do not listen to those who want to discourage you because you are the only masters of your destinies," he concludes. Article written by Hervé T.
