06/09/2023 - VENICE 2023: The hardships of an idealistic film director and his ever-struggling crew are at the centre of the French helmer's appropriately titled feature

(© Curiosa)

Making Of [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cédric Kahn
film profile] is Cedric Kahn’s candid behind-the-scenes close-up of an often hilarious environment which, in itself, is certainly no laughing matter. As the film enjoyed its world premiere out of competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival, we sat down with the maker himself, discussing various aspects of an industry dealing with emotion and the miracle of it all when it actually works out.

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Cineuropa: Was there any specific incident in your own career that inspired the film?
Cedric Kahn: Certainly. In my years as a filmmaker, many actual incidents have taken place, some of which made it into the film. The main inspiration is something else, though. I was in a place where I felt a bit low and discouraged in general, so it felt like the right time to do a little exercise on all those things that go on when making a film. I decided to go for the comedy form, although it’s clearly about something very serious and very political, not least via the storyline of the film being shot, as it deals with a factory strike, the tension it brings, the debates around class structures and so on. Because comedy, as it were, is often the best way to say really serious things, right?

Films about filmmaking are not a new thing: many of us remember and enjoy, for example, François Truffaut’s Day for Night or Tim Burton’s Ed Wood. Many of them offer some quite hilarious situations, as does Making Of, and we get a good laugh out of them. What is so funny about this particular workplace?
That’s a good question and a good observation. One possible answer is that films about filmmaking are usually made by people who know this workplace inside and out, all its situations and its personalities. The world of cinema-making is a world of exaggeration, of huge egos that are easy to laugh at and to ridicule. There’s also a broad mixture of quite complicated personalities – at times difficult, at times downright crazy – which can be quite hilarious. The actors themselves are a whole chapter of their own: they can play their hearts out in a scene, but off-camera, they can be totally inhibited and introverted. The fact that the set is a platform born of industrial planning while at the same time we really work with pure emotion is a strange dynamic in itself. This mixture, at times, can certainly get explosive.

Now and then, one comes across the expression: “Every time a film is finished, it is in fact a miracle.” Would you agree?
Yes! Well, not only to finish a film, but rather to get a film finished that works out [the way you wanted it], born of passion and sincerity. And you never know if your movie has worked out until you send it out into the world.

Can you say that your own body of work has succeeded in reaching this goal?
Not all of them, but some. That said, I am able to accept imperfection and also able to not be in total control of a film. I will send all of them out. Then I’ll think of something else, typically the next movie that I want to start working on.

Your immediate alter ego in Making Of would be Simon, the director. But perhaps you have another character here that you identify with just as much, or more?
I’m very much in line with Simon, but just as much with the young guy who gets his first opportunity. When I wrote it, I thought a lot about the different directors I worked with, or under, in the beginning. But I’ve aimed to dig into most of the main characters, really trying to understand what they do, and why, even those who only have one scene.

You mentioned Joseph, the young extra who gets a camera thrust into his hands and is asked to helm the “making of” footage in the film. Did you yourself experience a similar opportunity in your youth?
I did, and it was an important part of the film’s original idea. I was given the chance, and also the trust, in that I was able to participate in this thing that is cinema. It had an enormous bearing on me and my development. It’s a moment that I cherish. Today, I try to do the same towards a young person in my own crew at times.

Did you have a special mentor in your youth?
I did; it was without a doubt Maurice Pialat. I started out with him as a trainee on Under the Sun of Satan in the 1980s. He looked at me and said, “You are going to make your own films one day. You will go on.” He passed away over 20 years ago, but those words are still with me. Sometimes when I feel a bit doubtful, they still bring me encouragement. So, I will go on…