Les Hirondelles de Kaboul (The Swallows of Kabul), as seen by Zabou Breitman

Picture of the movie Les Hirondelles de Kaboul ( The Swallows Of Kabul ) © Les Armateurs - Mélusine Productions - Close Up Films - ARTE France Cinéma - RTS - KNM 2018

For the first time in her prolific career that began in 1981, French actress and director Zabou Breitman is taking on animated film. Adapted from the novel by Yasmina Khadra, The Swallows of Kabul (Les Hirondelles de Kaboul) follows Mohsen and Zunaira, two young lovers in a Taliban-occupied Kabul. With the help of graphic designer Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, Breitman recounts their story amid a backdrop of violence, repression and hope.

Tell us about the film's origins.

Julien Monestiez suggested that I make an animated film, as he thought that the format would fit Khadra's story better. I agreed on the proviso that the characters "acted" well, moved like real people – not overexcited and conventional "cartoons" – and that they had the actors' faces. I chose the graphic designer who would provide the visual universe: Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec.

She took everything from a fantastical image of Kabul set against a stunningly bright sky, with incredible work on the light and the dust, and one Taliban member wearing Ray-Bans, a joint in his mouth, nonchalant, looking defiantly into the camera, all in watercolour!

What was the atmosphere like when making the film? Any anecdotes from the set?

It was a new way of working: the actors performed like in cinema scenes, without scripts to hand and in the sound studio. I directed them like in a classic film; I'd asked for costumes and accessories. There was water, pistachio nuts, Kalashnikovs, burqas. They ate, fought, fell in love… I told the actors not to worry about hesitating, sputtering, coughing, improvising lightly at the end of scenes. The idea was to animate exactly "that". To not "clean", to leave a laugh that goes on too long, a cough, funny scenes where the actors let themselves go. To bring imperfection to the animation, to animate errors, to add life.

Do you have anything to say about your actors?

It's suprising, they weren't really thrown off. Simon Abkarian is a multi-talented, skilful actor. Swann Arlaud and Zita Hanrot were extremely malleable and easy to direct. Hiam Abbass was marvellous, with her powerful, delicate yet extreme voice, then Michel Jonasz, Sébastien Pouderoux, Elbé. All of them inquisitive, intrigued and ready to go.

Lastly my father, Jean-Claude Deret – this was his last project. Fabulous Nazish and his fragile voice is what I remember most: this character designed by Eléa, who isn't really him, but is so like him. He won't be able to see the finished film, but I know that he would have really loved it. He loved Eléa and her incredible talent, and he would have been so proud of this selection, my first.

What have you learned during the making of this film?

That there isn't such a great difference in the authenticity and emotion between a "live" film and an animated film. And that there's more room for manoeuvre than you think during the editing of an animated film.

What made you want to become a director? What are your influences?

A mix of things. Parents who were scriptwriters and actors. Cinema school from a very young age. Discovering, from childhood, hundreds of films from France, America, England, Russia, and more…

What's your perspective on French cinema?

I admire and am fascinated by the choice on offer, the diversity, the freedom that our country offers artists, always intellectual owners of their work. They are multi-talented and the younger generations have a lot of wonderful things to offer…