07/07/2006

After his first feature, The Ordeal [+see also:
trailer
interview: Fabrice du Welz
film profile], presented in Critics’ Week 2004, Fabrice du Welz is currently preparing his next film, "Vinyan, which means "ghost" in Thai", explained the director at the Brussels European Film Festival where he is member of the jury.

The story is about an English couple in Thailand who are mourning the death of their son and then go deep into the jungle in search of the son who the mother thought she had seen on a videocassette. From the very realistic opening scenes based on the aftermath of the tsunami in Thailand, "we are plunged into the couple’s decline, these two increasingly alone and vulnerable characters who gradually become ghostlike figures".

"With this film" du Welz says, "even if I am walking a very fine line, I do everything I can to make it as striking as possible. Because it is about placing the audience in an empathetic relationship with this couple so that they see a reflection of themselves, that of a society incapable of facing up to the truth in order to accept the death of closest ones.

The film itself is a contrast between two worlds: the East and the West, comparing in particular the idea of death in our world, where it is a real taboo, to that in the East where it is seen as part of life. However, while I try to have stories that are as powerful as possible, ones that move and interest me, what matters most is the way I can present these in a film.”

Behind the camera, du Welz will once again work with Benoît Debie (see interview), the DoP of his short film Quand on est amoureux, c'est merveilleux (lit. “When We Are In Love, It Is Wonderful”) and The Ordeal, to try out new methods, "very long shots in the jungle" and realist photography "à la Debie": “Unlike The Ordeal, which uses a type of realism where each time the shift takes place through very brutal scenes, I wanted this film to be quite odourless, colourless, so that we couldn’t notice it…"

Currently in pre-production, the €4m Vinyan is being produced by French outfit The Film and is expected to be co-produced by UK's FilmFour, with whom negotiations are still underway.

After the success of the director’s first feature, Wild Bunch and Canal + are interested in buying the title. With the English-speaking cast already in place, shooting is scheduled to begin early 2007 and is expected to last 10 weeks.

(Translated from French)