Immobile road movie: Filming starts on Mobil Home by François Pirot

by Aurore Engelen

13/07/2011 - The art of the immobile voyage, or how the very idea of setting off puts the imagination in motion… In Mobil Home, by François Pirot, Simon, who’s fast approaching 30, decides to leave the city, his job and his girlfriend, to find himself back in his home town in the country. He gets back in touch with with his old friend Julien, and together they try to re-enact a childhood dream – taking to the road in a camper-van and living by the rhythm and the unpredictability of seasonal work. But it’s a well-known fact that childhood dreams rarely take shape past the age of 30 – between procrastination and discovery, the two friends’ social, mental and emotional itineraries will slowly drift apart.

The two friends are played by Arthur Dupont (recently seen in Bus Palladium [trailer] by Christopher Thompson) and Guillaume Gouix (whom we will soon see in Jimmy Rivière [trailer]), supported by Jackie Berroyer in the role of Simon’s father.

A famous scriptwriter in Belgium (he notably co-wrote Nue Proprité [trailer] and Elève Libre [trailer, film focus] with Joachim Lafosse, as well as L’Envahisseur [trailer] by Nicolas Provost which we should be able to see soon), François Pirot is credited with two shorts, Retraite (2005) and Dimanche Soir (2009). Mobil Home is his first feature film. Developed by Eklektik Productions, it is now produced by Tarantula Belgium and Tarantula Luxembourg, and co-produced by Urban Factory (France). With a budget of a little more than €2 million, the film was supported by the French Community’s Film Commission in Belgium, Wallimage and Tax Shelter (via Casa Kafka), CNC in France, and by Audiovisual Investment Certificate Program (CIAV) in Luxembourg. It also received help from the MEDIA programme’s Slate Funding.

Expected in autumn 2012, it will be distributed by Cinéart in Belgium, Distrib’Film in France, and will be sold by Urban Distribution International. Filming began on July 11 and will continue in Belgium until August 17.

(Translated from French)