#BonfireStories — Introducing Filmmaker, writer Rémi Thevenart
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1. When it comes to storytelling, where do you get your inspiration from?
The most inspiring is what I see. If you are blocked or if you’re having some trouble to write, sometimes you just need to raise your head and look around. Every single thing is interesting. You just have to analyze the emotions it gives you and get to work.
2. How did you prepare for your role as the director being that you also wrote the script?
It was a first for both positions for me. So I asked a lot of questions to the directors that I know because I was stressed and I didn’t want to make any mistakes. Being the writer and the director can be tricky because sometimes when you are writing, you think too much about the movie and you can forget to focus on the story. But it’s also a privilege because when you are on the set, you have a total control on the script and that gives you a lot of keys to be in a constant rewriting.
3. We notice the film is based on actual events. How did your experiences inform what you do now?
The main inspiration for Kaiju came from my panic attacks. In my case it’s something that grows step by step and that either ends with a feeling of being lost or violence. The only medicine I found was sport, because it cleared my mind. I wanted to write a character that loses his « medicine » and see what happened.
4. Tell us about being vulnerable in your work? Do you think there’s a line?
I think it’s really personal and each person has to know themselves and act in accordingly. But I like to think that you can let your heart and emotions be the guide and that it will always take you to the most interesting results.
5. What kind of world do you want to see now that your film “Kaiju” is made? (For clarification) We know that there is a message you as a filmmaker are conveying to your audience, what is that message?
At first, I didn’t want Kaiju to bear any message. I wanted it to be the contemplation of a man spiraling out of control. But during the process of writing and even after the movie was finished, I understood that having a black character was a message itself. I understood that in the world we live in, there is such a deep racism problem that the only fact of being white and writing a character that is black make people question themselves and you. I want a world where the color of a character skin is not even a subject of a discussion.
6. What would you say is your unique responsibility as a filmmaker?
I think my only responsibility is to be honest. As a director I want what I do to represent the way I feel about the world and myself.
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