My first meeting took place during a shooting for Vogue with Brigitte Lacombe. We brought along our “lucky” outfits and ended up naked under the eye of the camera, hiding ourselves behind a white sheet. We were embarrassed and amused at once…
Our second meeting occurred at the Cognac gangster film festival. Julie Gayet was a member of the main panel headed by Claude Lelouch. I was part of the Sang Neuf (Young Blood) panel in charge of giving an award to a first film.
After many film projections, sleepless nights, memorable laughs, lively conversations discussions about cinema, life, literature, love, the taste of Cognac, improvised choreographies on the dance floor of Maison Blanche, THE night club in the area, promises, spoken dreams, deliriums…
In fact, I spent my evenings observing Julie. Her voice, her accents, her smiles, her light, her grace… The actress charmed the author like a character I did not want to lose under no circumstances. The author wanted to extend the relationship. So I decided to write for Julie my first short film. Un certain regard (a certain gaze), which was seven minutes long. She entered my world at last with such a beautiful, strong, modern smile… Bewitching, fatal, innocent, dark, enigmatical…
Many thanks to Clarisse Canteloub & Benjamin Biolay (“trash pop” clip), to the SFP studios, and to Gilles Marie Zimmermann.
Julie Gayet autoportrait