Interview: Léa Triboulet
28. 06. 2021
U susret ovotjednom diskurzivnom programu U kvadrat, razgovarali smo s Léom Triboulet, autoricom filma Posljednja pčela (The Last Bee, 2020) koji će biti prikazan u četvrtak. Program počinje u 20h u Kino klubu Split (Dom mladih, Ulica slobode 28) a autorica će nakon programa gostovati online (uz Petra Vukuičevića čiji ćemo film Povratak također imati priliku pogledati u sklopu programa). S Leom je razgovarala Sunčica Fradelić. Za prisustvovanje programu potrebno se prijaviti putem online obrasca.
Followin this week’s program, we spoke with Lea Triboulet, an author of the film “The Last Bee” which will be screened on Thursday. The program starts at 8 pm in the Cine Club Split (Dom mladih, Ulica slobode 28) and after the program, the author will join us online. To attend the program you need to apply via the online form.
- How did you come up with the idea for the film?
I’m working on different projects including a a feature project called I will drink with the bees and I had the opportunity to do an artist residency around the same theme in a high school in the Pyrenees (FR). There, I was very inspired by the place and the people I met, the beekeeper and this young teenager.
During my research, I discovered a poem by Catulle Mendès, a French writer from the 19 century. It’s about a bee lost in a violent storm, almost dying, which finds refuge near a woman who takes care of her.
Inspired by all this, I decided to think of this project as a poem, a lyrical gesture, an invitation to reconnect with what is surrounding us, nature and also what is important for us. I wanted to experiment, to work on sensations and organicity around bees.
Also, it was a way thought a mute teenager to evoke incommunicability, difficulties about finding your place in a world you don’t really understand. Symbolically, we can see the bees speaking their own language like the adolescent girl.
- Can you tell us a little bit about the production process? How do you produce your films?
The short film were filmed during the time of the residency. I was there for one month so I wrote and filmed during this time. I had a very short time of production. I worked with a class (art History option) and one of the teacher put me in contact with Armelle the beekeeper.
For the filming, I came with DP Anais Ruales and sound person Hugo Rossi who brought their own equipment. Then, after the residency at home, I edited the short film and we get with Laurine Pelassy (my producer who came on board after the residency) a post production grant to finish the film (WorkOut 2019 • FIFIB Festival International du Film Indépendant de Bordeaux – Nouvelle Aquitaine (FR).
It was a hybrid project, with students and professionals.
For The last bee, I received funds from the region Occitanie in France where I live to do first the residency on selection. It’s an open call they have every year to do projects with high school. I had a certain amount of hours to give to different classes as a speaker and a project to do with one specific class (I chose to make a short film). I used some of the money for the production : equipment, crew, props…
This kind of production was a premiere for me. It gives the possibility to experiment and to explore in a very short time. It was a strong experience.
- What was your experience working with high school students?
It was very nice and very stimulating. The class followed all the process from writing to filming, through the casting process. It was a way for them to be concretely at the heart of the creative process. The young girl is played by Rita, one of the student. And they were part of the filming, observing and helping. It made me question certain choices, how to transmit my desires and the cinema I love. I wished we had more time together to build a project over a longer period of time.
When the film was finished, I came back to show it to the students and talk about it.
- What are you working on now?
I’m currently finishing a new short film called And you remember the taste of home co-produced with the cinema school Travelling in Montpellier (FR). I’m working on my feature project Maïssa in development with my producer Laurine Pelassy and co-writer Ognjen Sviličic. I’m also writing another feature film I will drink with the bees co-written with Iva Brdar.
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Léa Triboulet (1987) grew up in the South of France.
After receiving an honors Master’s degree in scenography at the art school Ecole Supérieure des Arts Decoratifs de Strasbourg (France), she joined the international programme Film Factory in 2013, which was led by Béla Tarr in Sarajevo (BiH). She is an alumnus of the Groupe Ouest, a recipient of the Fondation Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet pour la Vocation and the SACD-Beaumarchais.
She has directed several short films which have travelled to film festivals worldwide. Her short film « The brother » (CNC quality prize) was selected for the Rotterdam IFFR, Clermont-Ferrand, Festival du Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal, Uppsala, Leeds, Hamburg, Sarajevo FF, Sarasota FF, New Orleans amongst international others.
She is currently developing further shorts film projects as well as features projects.
