Antoine chose to stay at home to take care of his children after he was fired. The roles have been reversed for two years now, and Antoine's energy is beginning to wane in the face of his family's demands.

When the whole family rushes to catch the train to go skiing, his wife is urgently called to her law office, so Antoine is left to fend for himself with their four children running amok on the ski slope...

Director and screenwriter Ludovic Bernard declares that it was somehow easy for him to direct this sequel: "This is my first time doing a sequel. I realized that the approach with the characters is greatly facilitated. We know them because we find them, the actors also know them so there is less hesitation, questions and, as a result, greater freedom of action which is very interesting and which I really liked".

The main actor, Frank Dubosc, declares that the filming was exhausting, but the result was as expected: "It's exhausting. The falls, the waterfalls… You come home at night, you hurt all over and you wonder why you still inflict that on yourself at your age. And the answer comes immediately: to make people laugh, to give pleasure to others and therefore to take it".

How To Survive Without Mum / 10 Jours Encore sans maman stars Franck Dubosc, Aure Atika, Alexis Michalik, Annelise Hesme and can only be seen in cinemas from April 28, distributed by Prorom and Ro Image.

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.