When did the idea of a feature film become imperative?
When I brought Al Gore to the National Assembly to show his film “An Inconvenient Truth”, I realized how cinema could be a massive echo chamber, even more so than a television show. I saw how moved the audience was, sometimes to tears, and thought that a feature film was an excellent way to reach people. It also seemed like a natural progression after photography and TV shows. I had realized that by photographing the Earth, I was talking about humanity, and it’s this same logic that we find in cinema.
This is your first feature film, which is also a project of rare scope: from production to editing and shooting, did you encounter many difficulties?
Denis Carot, the producer of “Live and Become”, was introduced to me by Armand Amar, a friend and composer. He agreed immediately, just like Luc Besson. That’s when things got difficult! When you’re given so much money to make a film as unique as “Home,” shot entirely from a helicopter and in high definition, the responsibility is enormous, and the stress is constant. I managed all this by instinct, as always, that is, learning on the job: we quickly realized that the shooting crew had to be reduced, in the helicopter, to a pilot, a cameraman, and a vision engineer. Then, we had to manage technical constraints, related to the new camera we were using, and to the shooting conditions, which varied from one country to another. I also made this film without a script, with only a single page of intent. I knew what I wanted to tell, but the narration really built itself gradually during the shooting, particularly the central idea of energy: first the energy produced by human arms, then the revolution of what we call “pockets of sunlight”, oil. It’s ultimately a true photographer’s film, accustomed to few constraints!
What is the central message of the film?
This film is a real manifesto. Our impact on Earth is stronger than it can withstand: we consume too much, and we are depleting all its resources. From the sky, you can clearly see the places where Earth is wounded: “Home” simply explains the current problems, while saying that there is a solution. The film’s subtitle could be “it’s too late to be pessimistic”: we are at a crossroads; important decisions must be made to change the world. What we say in the film, everyone knows, but no one really wants to believe it. “Home” is thus another brick in the edifice built by ecological associations to return to more common sense and change our way of consuming and living.
This also involves a unique distribution of the film…
The idea to distribute this film on as many platforms as possible with maximum freeness came to me thanks to Patrick de Carolis, who wanted to invest in the film for France Télévisions. He indeed told me that he could only broadcast it two years after its theater release. So I went to Luc Besson, and I told him we needed to distribute “Home” for free. He replied that it was impossible, before being convinced by the idea of a film released everywhere at the same time, and accessible to all. This had never been done before, and it was made possible thanks to François-Henri Pinault, CEO of the PPR group, who immediately agreed to partner with our film. The idea is especially for me that “Home” be seen by those who consume, those who have an impact on Earth, and who will hopefully want to change their lives after seeing this film.
Why this title, Home?
It was Luc Besson’s idea, and it imposed itself. It’s a very symbolic title since ecology is the science of the home…
What would you like the film to evoke in the audience?
Beyond changing their lives, I would like people to want to help, to share. Théodore Monod once said this beautiful phrase: “we have tried everything except love”. I hope that this film will be synonymous with a lot of love.
