17/02/2023 - BERLINALE 2023: Brother and sister in real life, the director and screenwriter spoke to us about their film, which introduces younger audiences to the subject of grief

By way of Sea Sparkle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Domien & Wendy Huyghe
interview: Thibaud Dooms
film profile], which is scheduled to open the Generation Kplus section of the 73rd Berlinale, Domien and Wendy Huyghe, brother and sister in real life, are turning their own personal experience into an initiatory tale of adventure revolving around Lena, who is struggling to accept her father’s death and who searches in vain for someone to blame, even if it means fabricating a monster in her mind. This sensitive and modern coming-of-age tale introduces young audiences and families to the realities of grief and its multifaceted nature.

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Cineuropa: Where did you get the brilliant idea to devise this project together?
Domien Huyghe: I think it’s the reason why I studied film, because our father died when I was 15 years old and I couldn’t find any films, or books even, which covered grief in the way I was experiencing it. It didn’t reflect the loneliness I felt.

Wendy Huyghe: I studied literature myself, I’ve always written stories, but always about other people. When Domien approached me about making a film together, it felt like the natural thing to do. I’ve always wanted to write fiction, but I think I was blocked. First, I needed to tell this story so as to make room for other fictitious stories. Writing this story was essential for us.

It’s a story about grief and a coming-of-age tale. How did you set about combining the two?
DH: We didn’t want to make a heavy-going, sombre film about grief, we wanted hope and glimmers of joy too. It’s not because you experience grief that you have to stop living. Which is where the idea to incorporate this “escape”, and the monster, came from. We also wanted to emphasise the transformative side of grief, the way it changes us. You suddenly realise that the world keeps on turning while you’re at a standstill. It’s something that feeds into who you are as you’re growing up.

WH: It’s a very particular thing to lose a parent during adolescence. You suddenly have to grow up much faster than planned. You feel different, and alone. You’re light-years away from your peers’ more day-to-day problems. You feel like an alien.

You needed a strong character to carry this theme. How did you come up with Lena? Who is she?
WH: She’s a very strong and very determined young woman who’s in total denial. She needs this monster hunt in order to understand what’s happening to her. What’s funny is that it was only at the end of the film shoot that I realised Lena was probably the person I would have loved to have been, a young woman who shouts, gets angry and doesn’t hesitate to express her anger. I wanted to hide my anger, I didn’t want to talk about it. And Lena is far from perfect in how she behaves; we wanted to show that grief is incredibly difficult, that it leads to bad decisions.

DH: We were looking for a regular girl. We wanted to show that it’s not only geeks or social rejects who believe in monsters and who take refuge in fantasy worlds. Lena has loads of friends, she fits in, but that doesn’t stop her from drifting towards the supernatural.

Grief is depicted in a variety of ways in the film, through the characters surrounding Lena: her mother, her brothers and sisters, her best friend…
WH: Grief is a very personal thing, it can come in many different forms. Lena’s brother, for example, tries desperately to find words for his feelings, but these words escape him. And then their mother is overwhelmed with logistical and even financial worries.

It’s also a coming-of-age tale, in the sense that grief speeds up Lena’s realisation that her parents, especially her father, aren’t heroes; that they’re fallible too.
WH: That’s something that happens when you lose your parents at a young age. You only know them as parents, not as people. You don’t get the chance to rebel against them, or to really get to know them as people.

What type of film did you dream about making?
WH: We wanted to make an honest film about grief which would be accessible to younger audiences, incorporating those elements which would open the film up to a wider audience: humour and adventure. We wanted to keep people interested for an hour and a half, for them to take something from the story and wonder what will become of the monster. And as they exit the cinema, we wanted dialogue to open up on the subject of grief.

(Translated from French)