Five questions for Emmanuelle Devos

This year she is invited as a member of the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury. Interview.

You have won a number of awards in your career and this time, you are the one making the award. How do you approach this reversal of roles?
I have been a jury member before and every time, I take it quite calmly and I know what it’s like to suddenly know which film you love and you absolutely want to support. You feel a passion that starts up inside and this kind of will to point a finger at a particular film because you love it. It’s true that it’s something quite remarkable. I am not very competitive but every time, it’s like a demon. It’s really very enjoyable to defend a film.

In spite of your childhood on film sets, you didn’t spare yourself the effort of getting classical training: Cours Florent, Fémis… What is “a school film” for you?
A school film? It’s like any first film except that it is made by people who might have more resources. At the same time, they must get out from their schooling a bit, from the two or three years they have spent leading up to it, it’s the result of three years of study. Not like real life. Real life in this profession is nothing like film school, but that will be a first expression.

With the experience you have now, what lessons could you have used if you were able to go back to the outset of your career?
I think that I would just take more English lessons; it’s as silly as that. Yes, because you can be called on more and more these days to shoot in different places in the world.  And also more singing lessons, music and dance… like in the American schools that offer a greater diversity in the training they give than the French schools do.

With the career you have these days, would you still agree to film in a short film by a young director?
Yes, of course, if I like the project. And then, it’s a particular art form, like the short story compared to the novel. Chekhov only wrote short stories and he is a great writer. On the other hand, a director who only made short films, I am not sure he would get as much recognition.