Between desires and reality, Oh Clara Dear is a dramatic comedy carried by a team of young film professionals.

In view of our shooting, scheduled for April 2021 in Paris, we need your help to achieve this beautiful project !

The project

Synopsis :

Clara, a soon to be thirty-year-old woman, is suffering from an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), although she won’t admit it. One day, as she tells her best friend Marie, with whom she has created a jewelry brand, that she wants to have a baby, Marie decides to send her a realistic doll so she can practice being a mother.

The origin of the project: Romane Hercot, young filmmaker

Mental health has always been a subject that profoundly touched me. Addictions, eating disorders, depression, self-harm are among the destructive behaviours that I had the misfortune to encounter through friends and relatives suffering from those diseases.

There are approximately twelve million French people living with a mental disorder. On a global scale, it is one out of five people that are affected according to the OMS. And yet, this topic is still very taboo and barely touched on in our society, our education or even in the public discussion.

This is where filmmaking can really have an impact : by raising awareness. Movies have this incredible power that enables them to shed light on topics often neglected, disowned. I still remember the intense shock I felt after watching Requiem for a Dream by Darren Aronofsky which talks about the atrocity of hard drugs. After this film, I told myself that I would never try any of that ! Therefore, by using this medium, I hope to bring awareness to subjects that are close to my heart, to educate in the same way I myself was and continue to be to this day.

Obsessive compulsive disorders are among those topics that are almost never addressed on the big screen. And when they are, it is through a masculine protagonist played by a famous actor. I am thinking here of Leonardo DiCpario in Aviator, Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets and Nicholas Cage in Matchstick Men. These comedians, due to their fame, are considered stars, idols even, far from the reality of the disease, anonymous and humble. This makes the identification to the suffering of the character more complex, and the comprehension of the problem less obvious, more distant.

Moreover, the way women experience the disorder and the stakes are really different compared to men, in particular because most of them will carry children. Indeed, a person suffering from OCD will have heightened anxiety and moments of intense psychological distress, and studies have found that stress and depression of the mother can lead to learning difficulties and behavioral problems for the child. It is also extremely hard to be in charge of someone’s well being when your own mental state is fragile.

This is why I wanted to confront a young woman with OCD to her desire for motherhood, to have a better understanding of the challenges that will irremediably stand in her way.

Romane's background :

After a bachelor in Film studies and Business in London, Romane continues her studies with a Master degree in Screenwriting and Directing at the ESRA school, followed by a year of complementary training in New York. She did several internships in production companies and is currently writing various projects, from feature scripts to books.

Oh Clara Dear : The crew

Lou Salaun Tilly : our Clara

After graduating from the Cours Florent in 2018, Lou Tilly is selected to participate in the Prix Passerelles in 2019 staged by Felicien Juttner, where she finds an agent. The following year, she plays Chloé in l’Écume des Jours staged by Claudie Russo Pelosi while doing many castings and small parts on television. Meanwhile, she writes and plays in her first play, and wins the price for best author at the Jacques ceremony in 2019.

Oh Clara Dear's universe

The visual aesthetic :

For this short film, Romane has in mind a color palette rather cold and pale, just like Clara’s bland everyday life, with tones of beige, pastel pink, cream and light grey. The image will be sleek and symmetrical in the apartment scenes, and brighter in the jewelry office. For the characters, she envisions Clara with a pale complexion, a slender silhouette and a neat look, while Marie will have a more energetic look and a colorful style. Here’s a moodboard that illustrates the visuel universe that Romane wishes to create :

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