Superwho? / Super-Heros malgre lui is a name of the latest French action comedy directed by Philippe Lacheau who also co-wrote the screenplay with Julien Arruti, Pierre Dudan and Pierre Lacheau.

A struggling actor who seems doomed to lead the life of a loser. When finally gets a lead role as a superhero named Badman, he feels like everything is possible but fate strikes again… Rushing off the set in full costume, Cedric has a car accident, loses his memory, and wakes up convinced he really is a superhero on mission!

The film features Philippe Lacheau, Julien Arruti, Tarek Boudali and Élodie Fontan in lead roles, along with Alice Dufour, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Amr Waked and Chantal Ladesou in supporting roles.

This weekend, in Romania, Prorom and Ro Image will release the comedy Superwho? and we invite you to read an interview with the actor and director Philippe Lacheau.

As a screenwriter, director and actor, what do you specifically enjoy about mixing comedy and adventure?
I’m a fan of adventure comedies like The Goonies, Romancing the Stone, and of course the Indiana Jones saga, which has a lot of humor in it. They really influenced me as a kid. You get drawn in by the riveting action and you have a good laugh, too. In our films, I like the idea that we are drawing in audiences with the promise of comedy but offer them adventure like an unexpected bonus, a nice surprise. It’s primordial to us that people leave the movie feeling satisfied and say, "That was cool. I got my money’s worth."

What comic strips and superhero films did you like best as a kid?
Actually, I didn’t read comics very much when I was a kid. I didn’t really discover them until later. The  first movie superhero I was struck by as a kid was Superman, played by Christopher Reeve. Superman is so fascinating that you want to be like him more than any other character. He is strong, humble, kind and invincible. Which by the way makes it really frustrating to see him get pushed around when he is Clark Kent. You feel like shouting at him: "C’mon, tell them who you really are!" (laughs) When I read Marvel comics, I loved Thor, probably for his badass side, for the Scandinavian mythology and his magic hammer. As for movies, I really liked Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, for the way Christopher Nolan depicted that whole universe.

Did you ever want to do parodies of superheroes when you were still a kid? Did you ever do that in the amateur videos you shot with your parents’ video camera?
Yes. I remember a skit I videotaped with some buddies when I was about ten. We interviewed Superman while he was flying and said, "Oh, Superman, we’re really lucky we found you!", and he replied, "You sure are, because the sky is big!".

After adapting Nicky Larson, were you ever tempted to try to make a “real” superhero movie, about a character with superhuman powers living in the real world?
Of course that’s tempting. Just like we sometimes had the urge to make our Nicky Larson adaptation a pure action film, even though our goal was to keep it a comedy. To be honest, I’m not sure I would know how to conceptualize and film a real superhero movie, even if I think I would definitely have things I’d want to show. The problem is, it’s really hard to do that these days, because you have to compete with American productions with budgets near 250 million dollars.

So you set out to do a comedy from the very start?
Yes, but the real starting point for the screenplay was the idea of an actor who is shooting a film and loses his memory. The superhero theme came later. I’d been wanting to do a parody of the Jason Bourne saga for a long time, based on the concept of an actor shooting a spy movie who has an accident while driving a stunt car. Disoriented and in shock, he doesn’t know who he is anymore. When he opens up the trunk and finds traces of blood, gadgets, fake passports and guns, he thinks he is a real secret agent. But the dark side and hitman side of a spy thriller ended up being too heavy for us, so we ended up turning towards the more positive vibe of the world of superheroes. We decided to parody Batman, to stay within a certain logic, since Bruce Wayne has no superpowers and has to rely on gadgets and mastering fighting techniques. That’s when it got to be more fun for us and synched up with what we like most about creating new films: living out our childhood fantasies.

The regulars of your troupe - Élodie Fontan, Tarek Boudali, & Julien Arruti - are all in the film. Does each one talk to you about new kinds of characters they’d like to play before you start writing a project?
We don’t necessarily talk about it beforehand, but since we’ve already shot several films together, we try to mix it up and play different characters each time, so that the audience doesn’t get bored. Sometimes the roles can be fairly similar, if it works in the story. In Superwho?, for example, Élodie plays a warrior, an action-taker, which is new for her. But the number one priority in casting these parts is to make it funny.

Isn’t entertaining audiences and making them forget their troubles, sometimes serious ones, a real superpower?
Absolutely. As a matter of fact, when people ask me who my favorite superhero is, I often answer Kylian Mbappé! (a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team).  He inspires millions of people and fills them with extraordinary sensations. That’s also what counts the most to me and motivates me. Nothing makes me happier than when people thank me for that reason. It makes me feel great. At the risk of repeating myself, I got into this profession because I saw my parents laughing at the films of Francis Weber, when they were broadcast on TV.

What other superpower would you like to possess?
What I’d like more than anything else is to have the power to treat sickness and heal people. For my personal pleasure, I’d like to fly. That’s since I discovered the experience of parachuting while shooting Babysitting 2. Even if the sensations of flying are short-lived, they are extraordinarily intense.

Exploring the world of superheroes opened up new filmmaking possibilities for you.
Since it’s a parody, we can use what’s already been done and have fun twisting around the cinematography and directing style of those references to make them funny. Since the main character is an ordinary guy who thinks he’s a superhero, that makes the situations all the more ridiculous.

Did you include allusions to recent superhero films in the credit sequence to tell people who are superhero movie fans, “I’m a real fan of those films, too»?
Yes. It’s the same operating principle we used for Nicky Larson: the story and the main gags were made to entertain people who don’t know the 1980’s cartoon, but there was a second level of the story just for the fans, with very pointed allusions and inside jokes.
You can laugh watching Superwho? even if you don’t know anything at all about that whole world. But fans of Marvel and DC comics will recognize hidden gags almost everywhere, in the subtitles, the background scenery, the names and signs, etc.. The movie is filled with references, and when it comes out, we’ll see how fans react and find out which gags they’ve spotted and which ones they’ve missed!

What were the main artistic and technical challenges you had to overcome to make Superwho? into a film?
I worried about Badman’s costume, because the shoot was planned for summer and I was afraid of suffocating and being uncomfortable in it. That kind of costume is thick and takes a long time to get into, because as I had learned in preproduction, all American actors who play superheroes wear spandex jumpsuits with fake foam muscles underneath their suits. It’s crucial, because those elastic suits are very tight and compress your flesh and the volume of your real muscles. Luckily, the costume designers took very good care of me and slipped frozen shammy cloths beneath my suit to cool me down. That was really wonderful, because wearing a superhero costume all day long is a challenge. I also discovered the limitations of that kind of suit, because when you’re wearing fake muscles, a hood and a mask, it’s impossible to fight like you normally would: you can’t lift your arms up all the way or move your head up and down, and a lot of other kinds of movements become difficult.

Last question: How would you like superhero fans to react when they see your comedy?
Taking on the world of superheroes was new and exciting for us. Judging from the reactions of those who’ve seen it so far, they like the comedy and the way the action builds, and I think the last third of the movie works quite well.
There’s an effect similar to the movie Kick-Ass, in the way Cedric’s character ends up becoming a hero in real life, by fulfilling his dream. I hope comic book fans will laugh as much as we do when they discover this young man who thinks he’s a superhero and see how we’ve brought his misadventures to life.

Superwho? / Super-Heros malgre lui premieres on February 25 in cinemas across Romania, distributed by Prorom and Ro Image.

Benoît, what made you want to accept this project?
Benoît Poelvoorde: I found the script very funny. And then it’s a true story, part of which the director experienced himself, and that moved me. He wrote a novel about it first before writing the script. I read them both, I liked them both equally, then I said: “Yes, OK, I’ll do it, but with whom?” For comedy to work, there must be right chemistry between you and your co-actors.

Valérie, when Benoît knew that Ivan Calbérac was thinking of you to play his wife, he also called you. What did he say to persuade you?
Valérie Bonneton: “There’ll be two or three nude scenes, they’ll be fine... don’t worry!” (laughs). More seriously, as soon as I read the script, I wanted to be part of this family: the Chamodots. Together, they make their way through life’s ups and downs, even though the two sons are a bit ashamed of their parents. Despite what Émile goes through and the fact that he must bear barmy neurotic parents and day-to-day life in a caravan, there’s a lot of love between them, certainly some awkwardness but above all, love. That’s what touched me.
Benoît Poelvoorde: They are nevertheless exemplary parents when it comes to patience and generosity. Launching into a journey to Italy just because the little one wants to find his love in Venice... I don’t know many parents who would do that!

Ivan Calbérac says you both resemble his own parents a little. Do you recognise yourselves in Annie and Bernard?
Benoît Poelvoorde: Yes, in his “Mister Know-it-all” attitude. A guy who shows off all the time. That’s exactly me! (laughs).
Valérie Bonneton: Annie accepts that by educating, one makes fatal mistakes. Like her, I try to accept them. I’ve got little ones of my own.

Valérie, you say you take a long time considering the angle from which to approach a role...
Valérie Bonneton: Yes, I read the script then put it aside for a while. For this film, I relied on the script then trusted to the alchemy with my partner and the director. Once on set, I didn’t know how Benoît was going to play it. My acting also depends on his, and on the director’s instructions. Then I just go with the flow. I like the idea of not knowing what’s going to happen.

Moving on to Hélie Thonnat, he is in almost all the scenes. How did you approach them with him?
Valérie Bonneton: I’d say always in the same way: Benoît enjoyed making him laugh before every take.
Benoît Poelvoorde: It’s a way of making children relax when facing difficulty. There are different ways of putting them at their ease: the Austrian way, the German way and then my way, which is all about making funny insinuations. I think Hélie now has an unusually large vocabulary of crude words! But what could be better? When you laugh, you forget why you’re there, and once it starts, you act naturally.
Valérie Bonneton: Benoît behaves like that with me too. As soon as the camera’s rolling he gives it his all. He’s a magnificent actor. But between every take, he tells jokes. Being distracted before a scene, I love that. Then when we start to shoot, that gives me an adrenalin boost, which means I’m much more present.

What sets Valérie apart from other actresses?
Benoît Poelvoorde: Her joie de vivre and her acting! She acts exceedingly well, she’s the best! And then she’s not fussy. She’s not the type to call over to the director with questions like: “Tell me, Ivan, what psychological angle do you want to convey when my character acts like this or that?” Nothing’s complicated with Valérie. It’s a joy to film with her. I had a blast. And she’s naturally generous. She likes people to be cheerful around her, so makes sure they’re happy. Valérie is a real ray of sunshine.

And you, Valérie, what is special about Benoît?
Benoît Poelvoorde: The same but more so (he laughs).
Valérie Bonneton: Benoît is a good person, truly kind. In this profession you sometimes meet people who aren’t like that at all... also naming no names ;-)
Benoît Poelvoorde: It’s funny that you’re not asking for some names (he laughs). Would you like some?...

Benoît, in the film we see you enjoying a song: Black Blood’s A.I.E (A Mwana), which you sing at the top of your voice in the car...
Benoît Poelvoorde: Oh wow! Don’t remind me of that tune ... Particularly as I’m going back to Namur by car... I was belting out that song for an entire day. It’s nice when you hear it once, but eight hours of A.I.E (A Mwana) blaring out ... It’s really proof that cinema’s just laughter and glitter.

You relax others but how do you relax?
Benoît Poelvoorde: I go away by myself to read. I read, I read, immersed in book after book.

How did your shooting go in Venice?
Benoît Poelvoorde: Three weeks before we left, Valérie was all fired up: “Great! We’re going to Venice”. I told her: “You’ll see, it won’t be as simple as that”. Valérie saw herself dressed in black, preparing pasta alla vongole with Italian friends around her, or on a candlelit gondola floating off into the night. But once you’re there, you work. And for that, Venice isn’t practical. I’ll always remember one sequence: just for that, I should have been paid three times my salary!
I’m with my son - Hélie Thonnat - a beautiful setting at the edge of the lagoon. And 10 seconds later, we’re being attacked by a thousand mosquitoes. It was hellish, even though they seemed to appreciate the child’s fresh young skin rather than my leathery old face!
Valérie Bonneton: But it was fantastic too! I was staying in a little cabin on the edge of the lagoon...

One specific theme addressed by the film is the influence of education, of transmission. What do you think about the issue:
Benoît Poelvoorde: You very quickly descend into clichés when you talk about the family. I’d prefer to let Valérie answer. She understands the problem better because she has two children.
Valérie Bonneton: Many parents pass things they’ve found difficult on to their offspring. It’s important not to make your children relive your failures. The film shows that loving them is respecting them, accepting them as they are. It seems simple when you say it like that, but it’s actually very complicated.

What do you think makes this film attractive to the public?
Benoît Poelvoorde: Its humour, and characters who are a bit crazy but full of love. This trip to Italy.
Valérie Bonneton: And the Chamodots: an eccentric, special family, full of tenderness, moving and funny... In whom everyone can recognise themselves... Irresistible people, in the sense that they accept who they are!

Venice Calling can be seen both at the cinema and online on the Play.HappyCinema.ro platform.

For cinema program: https://happycinema.ro/happy-bucuresti/m/chemarea-venetiei-1444

For watching online: https://play.happycinema.ro/programs/chemarea-venetiei-venice-calling

Hanno Olderdissen was born in 1976 in Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He is known for his work on Robin (2008), Rock My Heart (2017) and What to Do in Case of Fire (2001) as well for the family film Wendy 2 - Freundschaft für immer (2018) and the series Der Bulle und das Biest (2019).

How did you approach the idea of bringing Lassie again into the big screen?
I wanted to create a film that was modern and interesting for the children but also has a classic nostalgic touch to honor the original Lassie Films and Series that we, as parents and grandparents know from our own childhood.

When did you first read the book by Eric Knight? How does this movie differ from the book?
I read the novel once, when I started working on the project together with the Producer Henning Ferber and Screenwriter Jane Ainscough. The Novel has a very epic story that goes over many months and has many chapters. The Story of the movie concentrates more on Lassie and her owner Flo and how they overcome adventures and obstacles to find back to each other.

Working on the two episodes of Der Bulle und das Biest helped you in directing this new Lassie movie?
It was a good “practice” for me to shot a TV Series with an bullmastiff. There I already got to know our excellent dog trainer Renate Hiltl and her crew. It surely helped and prepared me for directing Lassie.

After Rock My Heart and Wendy 2 - Freundschaft für immer where the “stars” were horses, now you bring this iconic dog back on the big screen. It seems that you are an animal lover, like me. Do you have a pet?
Unfortunately, I live in the City and have a Job, that involves a lot of travelling, so my lifestyle is not suitable for a pet. But when I was a little boy I lived in the countryside and my father trained racehorses, that I used to ride, when I was a child. Later I was very keen on showjumping.  And we had a little Jack Russel Terrier. So, yes: I am an animal lover.

Do you have something to transmit to the audience from Romania and Hungary, the two countries where Prorom will release the movie? What should the audience expect when they go see this movie?
I think the audience can look forward to a modern film with a nostalgic feel and lots of fun, adventure, drama and two very sweet and beautiful dogs.

Interview by Emanuel Lăzărescu.
Foto ©Denis Behnke.

Franck Dubosc was born on November 7, 1963 in Le Petit-Quevilly, Seine-Maritime, France.

He is an actor and writer, known for Rolling to You (2018), Camping (2006) and Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008). He has been married to Danièle since June 19, 2009. They have one child.

This week he can be seen in cinemas in Romania and Hungary in the comedy 10 Days Without Mum, distributed by Prorom.

What drew you in when you first read the script of 10 Days Without Mum?
Since this is a remake, I was able to see the original Argentinian film before reading the new script. It's a rare luxury to be able to see a finished product first, and get a sense of the project, then rediscover it anew as a new script for a French audience. This role of present-yet-absent father, who has many scenes with his children, was very appealing to me. Beyond the humor and the comedy, there is a sensibility, a dose of reality that I can relate to as a father in terms of how we see our kids or fail to see them.

Ludovic Bernard says he could only see you in this role. Did you feel like you had to seize this opportunity, and if so, why?
Let's just say that it corresponded perfectly to my wishes to act in films that are funny yet anchored in reality. I had seen The Climb and In Your Hands, two features directed by Ludovic, and I really wanted to work with him.

How would you describe your character, Antoine?
He represents a lot of men. He is selfish and career-driven; both usually go hand in hand. But he has blinders on. He is completely missing what's essential in his life, but in order to realize that his children are essential to his existence, he needs to see them—but he doesn't even look.

How did you shape the character?
I went with the flow. Everything was written, well written. The only difficulty was to go searching within yourself around children who are not your own and give them tenderness and love that appears credible. It's almost more indecent than a love scene with an actress who is not your wife. You keep having to tell yourself that this is just cinema, but the young ones don't really differentiate between fiction and reality.

You’re a father and must often be absent because of your roles in the theatre and on screen. What port of you did you bring to this role?
I have a profession that is extremely engaging, and I've tended to put my career before my children. My field will forget me long before they will; I know that now. To me, this film was a bit like therapy. When women don't work, men tend to tell them that they are free to do whatever they want once the kids have been dropped off at school. They don't realize the workload involved. Since the shoot, I never tell my wife that her days are easy even if she takes care of our two sons. In fact, she has seen 10 Days Without Mum and every time she tells me, "be careful, that's you in the film, that's honestly how you tend to be in real life."

What kind of notes did he give you?
He sometimes helped me simplify certain things in order to stay true to the character. We had many discussions and I trusted him completely. I didn't want him to be a customer of what I can do from a comedy standpoint. But, more and more, I'm forgetting how to be Franck Dubosc when I play in a movie.

Was it frightening to have dialogues with four children?
On the contrary. I have worked with kids a lot and I love it, because they don't cheat. The difficulty lies in being real around them, because you can't fake anything with them. Working with the youngest one was a bit more complicated. I had to win his affections, then be patient. He was the one calling the shots.

What do you think of the actresses you worked with, Aure Atiko and Alice David?
I knew Aure because we had appeared together in Traffic Peddling by Dominique Farrugia twenty years ago. I met Alice David for the first time. They are beautiful women, incredible actresses, and exceptional colleagues—what more is there to say? We collaborated with ease, with no complications. Compared to my character, they are obviously on a moral high ground. In fact, I would say that this is rightfully so, and that women will really relate to this film. And it would be good for men to question their own lives and realize that they are probably far less complicated. The role of men and fathers today is different than in prior generations. And it's for the best.

Would you say that the moral of the film is that women make men better?
I don't know if that's the takeaway of the film, but it's the truth. I would say that the moral is that one should look at what's right in front of them rather than seeking something far off. Real happiness is often right within our reach.

What sparked the idea for 10 Days Without Mum?
It's actually a remake of an Argentinian film. Romain Brémond and Daniel Preljocaj, my producers, loved it and thought I might be interested. I immediately fell in love with the story, which was very funny but had an emotional core, even a bit of gravity, which I found interesting. Those are the ingredients I like to see in a comedy. Even though I'm fond of jokes and comical situations, I like for there to be something else between the lines. Here, it's about a man's redemption, a father's redemption. Will he be capable of change, and to really take care of his loved ones?

Is there anything personal that appealed to you?
The story impacted me because I'm the father of two daughters, one of whom is similar to Chloé, one of the characters in the film. I'm well aware of how much I've worked and travelled the last few years. Yes, I've been absent, and thankfully my wife was there to find solutions for every little thing that comes up day after day. And I sometimes had to make up for lost time. That's also the reason I wanted to invest myself fully in this project.

How did you modify the original script?
With my co-screenwriter Mathieu Ouillon, we worked to adapt it to French culture, to the habits and mannerisms of French children and teenagers, which are not always the same as in Argentina. Other than that, in the roles of the mother and father, there were a lot of universal things we chose to keep. It's a universal subject.

Is it fair to say that it’s a family comedy about family issues?
It's absolutely a family comedy. The story takes place in the south of France, in a typical large family in which there's no cheating, no fighting, and a lot of love. But the father is too preoccupied by his work and because of this, he overlooks all kinds of small things that are important to his children. He overlooks his children because of his job. He hasn't really seen them grow up. He doesn't know them, really. What the movie highlights is the absence of this father, despite his physical presence, as well as a lack of paternal structure and authority. Children need love as well as guidance.

So, the title, 10 Days Without Mum, is meant to make us wonder how the father is going to manage in her absence?
Exactly. Isabelle, his wife, decided years before to quit her i b as a lawyer in order to take care of four children and her husband, which is basically like running a small company. When she decides to take a vacation on her own, because she's tired of being invisible, he must manage all the things he's never taken care of. I know how much work that entails.

The film deals with the dynamics of a family, as well as the dynamics of a couple...
The character of Antoine and his wife Isabelle have a bit of an outdated relationship—the man works, the woman stays at home... This has totally evolved, thankfully. I would say this is an old formula, that of the previous generation, our parents' generation, but it's nonetheless what Antoine represents at the beginning of the film. So, he has a long way to go.

Isabelle seems to be the pillar of this family. She handles all day-to-day responsibilities, as well as her husband's contracts... Wouldn't you say she is a bit exploited?
She's more the problem solver. She's the mother who knows all, iust like in a lot of families, and who manages to handle everything without getting overwhelmed. Whereas a father, if he's preoccupied with something, will often postpone things, and answer with "not now, come back in 10 minutes, let's see tomorrow". The more you defer the answers to children's question, and fail to sort anything out, the more your risk losing them. You shouldn't minimize their questions. What might appear insignificant to us in the moment is often crucial in their eyes. Plus, concerning the dynamics at the heart of this family, I started thinking about Freud's claim that parents are like a bone that children chew on, which I always found very funny.

How did you select Aure Atiko for Isabelle's character, this mother who,  at  the beginning of the film, seems to swim in a sea of domestic bliss, and has a saintliness about her?
I wanted this woman to be loved and beyond reproach, so that you couldn't |udge her for leaving her home or think that she was abandoning her family. On the contrary, I wanted the audience to think "break free and let them figure it out for once." I liked Aure immediately. Other than the fact that she's beautiful and talented, she has this smile and this benevolence in her that legitimizes the character's choices.

Children play an important role in the film. How did you pick them?
It was a long casting process during which we saw many children from different age groups. We gravitated towards those who were comfortable in front of the camera and around adult actors, and who also understood the emotional content we were asking of them. Evan Paturel who plays Jojo, 2 years old, was a natural fit. I was committed to working with someone that age despite the problems it poses, because he doesn't speak very well yet and Antoine is the only one who doesn't understand him, which is a sign that he doesn't pay attention to him. Secondly, Violette Guillon who plays Chloe, age 12, was incredible during auditions. The choice of Swann Joulin for the role of Arthur, age 14, and llan Debrabant for Maxime, age 8, eventually fell into place. It became clear, when we took family photos with the four of them, that they created a beautiful family with Aure and Franck. The family ties seemed completely credible.

And how did things shake out with them?
Let's just say it was a matter of patience. You must learn to wait and wait, and not to give up on anything even on days that are jam-packed. Especially with the little one, whose desires didn't always line up with ours. Evan is a brilliant child but, on some days, he didn't feel like dressing up or participating in the film. Small children don't deliver the script on cue. If they say the line at all, they'll speak a little bit before or after the ideal tempo. Basically, they do what they want and there are a lot of unknowns to balance. That back and forth with adult actors can be complicated. I couldn't have done it alone. There were days where I wanted to pull out my hair, but Franck was an incredible partner to have, always patient and amused—a wonderful set dad who was incredibly patient with the children, even when he felt discombobulated. And honestly, I sometimes took advantage of his desperation and left the camera rolling. This obviously worked with his character as an overwhelmed father.

Antoine gets swept up in a series of hilarious domestic catastrophes that he doesn't seem to be able to contain. How did you envision these scenes?
Like pure action scenes, with the rhythm of the Home Alone anthology. As soon as the mother leaves, it's a complete disaster, a jungle with no rules. I wanted things to move in a crescendo, with the camera following each movement, and for it to go in every direction and leave you gasping for breath.

Why did you go with Franck Dubosc for Antoine's character?
When I saw the South American version of the film, I immediately thought of Franck for the role of the father. It had to be him and no one else. I was really moved by the film he directed, Rolling to You. I found it beautiful, subtle, and intelligent despite being built around a risky subject. And it seemed to me he wanted something more than a slapstick role, even though I am totally on board with that. But I felt it was good for him to show another facet of his personality, a softer, more reserved, emotional side that is about expressing your feelings, which he hasn't done much before. This is what we looked for together, while making sure not to eradicate his incredible range as a comedian. Franck blew me away with the range of his acting. He manages to make this lost, indefensible character both likeable and charismatic. All I want is to make another movie with him.

Antoine works in human resources but knows nothing about his four children. He thinks more about climbing the social ladder than raising his children. But isn't he a bit of a child himself?
He is, within the family dynamic. His wife mothers him. When he's at home, Antoine lets himself get taken care of. Outside of the home, he is obsessed with the promotion that he has been waiting on for several years. You can't fault him for that; it's understandable. However, it is true that the relationship he has with his rival, played by Alexis Michalik, could also seem childish. They often act like kids on a playground, showing off their muscles, trying to see who comes out on top. Which is something that, it seems to me, happens in some companies.

Their rivalry brings about on unbelievable scene around the loyoff of a warehouse worker, played by Alice David.
Yes, it's a pissing match, a display of power in order to be recognized, which makes them look completely ridiculous and brings them to fire this young woman for stealing three screws. Even if we are exaggerating a bit for comic effect, I still feel like reality isn't too far off. I recently heard that a cashier lost her job for a mistake in her tally totalling 24 cents. It's iust as ridiculous and absolutely tragic.

The character played by Alice David, Julia, is important. She comes to Antoine’s rescue without knowing he led to her demise. Is she the voice of reason?
When he tells her that in his world, people shouldn't steal, she responds that in hers, people should take care of their kids. She triggers something; she makes Antoine face his responsibilities. Alice immediately understood the subtleties in her script. She has several scenes face to face with Franck, with a lot of dialogue, different emotions to communicate, and she placed the bar high. Thanks to these two actors at the top of their game, this resulted in scenes I'm very proud of.

The women in the film, in fact, are all the "good guys". Is this intentional?
Completely intentional. I wanted to show that mothers, hence women, generally have a better perspective on how to approach life.

What does this movie hove in common with your first three films? Aren't they all about men who ore changed because of love?
Antoine does change. As he becomes able, again, to show his children love, he transforms them as well. I've always told stories in which notions of transformation hold an important place because they allow protagonists who start off on the wrong foot to find their way towards a new life. But I had never thought about it in this way and you are indeed correct: women help elevate men. That I firmly believe.

How did you get to do what you do now? Working in this area of animation?
I always wanted to make cartoons. When I was a kid, on Saturdays, at the end of school, I was running home to see final minutes from the Gala Desenului Animat  (Cartoon Gala – a famous Romanian show in th '90s). Then they took me to the Doina cinema. (in the past a famous Romanian cinema where they running only family films and animations). It was like I arrived in the cartoon country.

They had wallpapers of animals from the jungle on the walls, it was a small room and somehow intimate, weekly program where you could find full-length movies that you would see on TV only in the parts of a few minutes a week. What can I say? It was fantastic!

I've been drawing since I was little, and even tried to be a serious artist and to focus on things with more weight, respectable but I failed. When I entered the high school of arts and saw that they had the animation section I had no doubt. I didn't have to choose between sections. Things were no longer the same at the academy where there was no animation section.

Animation was not an art there, so I choose graphics and painting which was very useful to me later. But not to dramatize. I had a nice chance to work at Animafilm since I was in high school. That was practically the time when I was really inoculated with the animation virus and I say this because during my student years I tried to do other jobs but I always went back to animation.

A friend of mine, Olimp Bandalac told me: "Once you have got the animation virus you will not escape". And so it is for most of us.

Then I worked through almost all the studios in Bucharest in the '90s. But as I was young, inexperienced, those years were pretty gray. In the late 90's, after finishing college, I went to Hungary and that was it. After a year my girlfriend from then came with me. She became my wife after a few years.

What does the job of animation director and supervisor mean?
This position is a very responsible one and quite difficult from several points of view. Job descriptions can be found on the net but I tell you what it means to me and how I relate to this position. First of all you have to be an animator yourself. Only this way you can help where it is needed.

Every time I start a new movie I try to document myself as much as possible. What is the original story behind the script. Who are my directors, possibly the producers. After that I try to understand as best I can the script and the characters in the film. The deeper I get into the story, the better I realize the subtleties and layers of the film.

From here I start to have discussions with the director (the directors in this case of Latte) and to deepen the story and the characters. What kind of acting we need, as well as in what sense to exaggerate etc. Once it is clear to me what the directors want, I start working on the animation style, find a rhythm of the film, look for references by actors to help the animator understand the character.

Many times I even make a database representing what kind of expressions should be used and the limits of deformations. I can usually select the team after tests or portfolios. Once the team or teams are chosen, I usually do an acting workshop on the characters in the movie. I'm trying to make the animators understand why character X is moving like this and why it has to be different from other characters.

How a character evolves during the film and how important it is to animate as much as needed and where needed. Only then do I begin to talk about each sequence and each scene. If the animation is not correct I send additional drawings to the frame where something needs to be changed. As a simple supervisor the work is a little simpler, having to follow the instructions of the animation director.

How long have you been working as animation director and supervisor?
I think I started in 2009 or 2010 with a famous series in Germany. A production for preschoolers called Kikaninchen, a position assumed by Anca starting with season 2, becoming "kikaninchen's mother" over a few years.That's how they called it in Mitteldeutsche Zeitung in an article about the series. In the meantime, I started working on the first feature film as animation director in Belgium.

There I had the “baptism of fire”. We were working on a big film, produced in Paris and we had to send weekly a fixed number of seconds to a quality that we had not worked before. I learned a lot and realized that I still have a lot of work to do. It was a good school.

I know that before you settled in Germany you had a period when you also worked in Hungary? How was that experience?
In Hungary were the years of my growing up professionally or at least the beginning of them. We went through some experiences and we had the chance to qualify professionally, being forced to keep the deadlines, doing a large volume of animation and doing many tests. It was a good school.

You have worked on many successful animated films. What project do you keep closely to your heart and why?
I can't say I liked one movie... it's like asking a parent which of the children is dearer to him. I mean a good parent :-) Each production is different, and has its problems and solutions. Teams often differ completely. For example, now we are working on a new film by Enzo Dálo. For me 90-95% of the team is new. We will have first and foremost many young animators who will need a lot of advice. It will be fun and very interesting of course but it will be also a new adventure from which I will learn a lot.

Who has influenced you the most in your career?
Work in the studio. I learned a lot by watching a lot of movies and here I mention that not only animation and not only American. I read a lot and try to document myself a lot. BUT! I happen to work with people who are really big names in the field and and I can learn a lot from them.

I learned from Tahsin Özgür who animated for Disney in a few big movies. Another name that inspired me through the vitality of work and professionalism is Jesper Moller and in the last year and something I have worked and still work with Daniel St. Pierre from which I learned many details that you can not find in books. Of course, I learned something from each film I worked on and there are several names that influenced my evolution whether or not I was aware of it.

How much does working on a European animation differ from one for a larger studio? The difference is only about money, or also involves more special technology?
This is a good question :-) First and foremost, in Europe, there are increasingly competitive productions, by American standards. The only problem is the budget of the film. The bigger the budget, the more time you have to work on story, design, style, animation, effects, light... etc. The last film I worked on and we hope to release this year is an India-China co-production and is at a high standard. Here I worked hard on the quality of the animation and it will feel.

In 2019 you worked on the animation Latte & the Magic Waterstone as animation director. Can you tell me how you got to work on this project?
I first saw the trailer on the net. It was kind of love at first sight. I knew I could do a lot with a character like Latte. About 7-8 months, when I was approaching the final production of that time (Marnie’s World or Spy Cat) I announced online that I will be free of contract.

Then I received an email from a Belgian colleague from the production company if it is ok to recommend me to the German producer of Latte Igel. Do you realize that I was flying on a cloud and seeing the city from above :-) I said yes, I was contacted and that was it.

How did you work with directors Regina Welker and Nina Wels?
The collaboration with these two beautiful ladies was extraordinary. And I'm not exaggerating. I anchored Latte's acting based on the personality or the way Regina moves. The funny thing is that she says she moves the same way I do but you should see her. He is an animated character full of energy and humor.

After we had our first Skype talk, I was a little scared that we didn't quite understand about the message of the movie. That was my impression and I don't think it was that way, but I'm an emotional guy, so I belived that.

It was only when we met face-to-face in the studio I realized how they are and what they want… we started to know each other and actually worked on the construction of the film. We made many ideas exchanges and sometimes we argued about things, but in a constructive way, and all of that practically served to raise the quality of the film.

Nina helped me a lot with the team from Ludwigsburg and Halle / Saale, I also had to work in India. We had a total of 4 teams and fortunately all were talented and motivated.

Prorom will release on February 7 in Romanian cinemas Latte & the Magic Waterstone. Do you have a special message for the spectators who are going to see it?
Latte is a feel good movie, about friendship in the first place. You may be surprised that the story will catch you and you won't know when the time has passed. I just hope you like it as much as we liked to create it and bring it to the cinema. I look forward to the reaction of the Romanian audience.

Interview by Emanuel Lăzărescu.