Published at 1:12 am. Updated at 7:00 a.m.
On Wednesday, Marie-Hélène Viens and Philippe Lupien as well as around ten members of the team from their first feature film “You are not alone” around Marianne Fortier and Pier-Luc Funk were gathered on the big stage for the first time. At the Falcon Motel in Brossard there was so little room space that some had to sit in the spa.
On this 22nd day of shooting, we shot the scene in which Rita (Fortier) and Léo (Funk), who had just met, wake up under a pile of coats after spending the night with Rita’s friends in a motel room in Rimouski.
“The nice thing about their relationship is that they move forward even with small missteps,” admits Pier-Luc Funk. Leo is going through a sad time; He works at night, doesn’t want to see anyone, doesn’t feel like going out. He’s all alone at home, but Rita will give him the little push he needs to go out because he thinks she’s worth it. Léo and Rita ask themselves the same questions, share the same awareness of certain things; So everyone is happy to meet someone who understands them. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Actor Pier-Luc Funk between two scenes
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Pier-Luc Funk’s character Léo goes through a sad time in You Are Not Alone.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The actors Marianne Fortier and Pier-Luc Funk on set
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Directors Marie-Hélène Viens and Philippe Lupien
1/4
“Rita is radiant,” continues Marianne Fortier, “who has great chemistry with her playing partner. She had a great childhood, a united family, but she finds it difficult to look to the future and lead an adult life.” Léo and Rita do not have much self-confidence; Everyone will wonder if the other person in front of them is feeling the same dizziness. It is the loneliness that they both experience in different contexts that connects them. »
When romantic comedy meets science fiction
Marie-Hélène Viens and Philippe Lupien, co-writers and co-directors of three delicate and edgy short films (“Bernard the Great,” “Amen” and “We Are the Freak Show”), who met in the early 2000s, wanted theirs Unite talents again. Both come from Lanaudière and come from modest backgrounds. They reveal that there is something of themselves in “You are not alone”.
Although the story is set in an anonymous suburb reminiscent of the suburb in which they grew up, the filmmakers had fun with the codes of sentimental comedy and science fiction. In fact, the budding romance between Rita and Léo is threatened by the presence of John (François Papineau). John, a seemingly benevolent taxi driver, is an alien looking for humans, and he is particularly interested in the grumpy lion.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Philippe Lupien and Marie-Hélène Viens
“Essentially, aliens are an allegory of loneliness,” explains Marie-Hélène Viens. We wanted to talk about loneliness and draw a parallel with the question of whether we humans are truly alone in the universe. We read a lot about it; A bit like all faiths, there is a lot of loneliness among people who are in the ufological environment, who talk about aliens, who say they have encountered them. It’s something that really touched us. »
“It seems that our ideas arrive against our will,” says Philippe Lupien. Maybe it’s because there are two of us and we mix genres. For us it’s not that unusual because we try to base the story on rules and a fairly precise universe. In this case it’s very lo-fi and relatively realistic in the sense that we’re really on a human level and not in spaceships. »
An “intense” shoot
Marie-Hélène Viens and Philippe Lupien are very happy and pampered with the filming of their first feature film, even if it took 24 days instead of 28 for budget reasons, and cannot ignore the generosity of the film’s actors and craftsmen: “The team is incredible “says the director. Everyone gives 150%. Despite the November rain, cold and nocturnal shoots, the good mood remains. It was pretty intense. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Producer Fanny-Laure Malo
Share the Quebec Media Production Association’s (AQPM) disappointment at the Liberal government’s broken promise to increase Telefilm Canada’s budget a permanent increase of $50 million per year, Fanny-Laure Malo, who co-produced the film with Annie-Claude Quirion for La Boîte à Fanny, cannot hide her concern for the future of Quebec cinema.
“ There is a weakening of the manufacturing environment that is really worrying. With COVID relief gone, producers have significantly larger budgets at their disposal, with which they are taking more and more risks. We blow our budgets because of our personal investment in the film. Everyone is working twice as hard, it’s really nice to see the solidarity between the teams who understand the reality we find ourselves in. We’ve been saying it for years, but now we see that we really need to maintain Telefilm Canada’s budget,” concludes the producer.
Distributed by Maison 4:3 and starring Sandrine Bisson, Blaise Tardif and Micheline Lanctôt, You Are Not Alone will be released in Quebec in 2024.