SYNOPSIS

Linda is a famous international rockstar, rushed back home from her tour. In two day, her son Ludo will be buried. She barely knew him.

Sebastian, her son's best friend found an audio tape on which Ludo plays a calm guitar arpeggio. Obsessed by this audio fragment Sebastian has only two days left to learn and play the song at burial. He has to give his friend that last goodbye.

Wether Linda wants it or not, Sebastian will play the song.

KEY INGREDIENTS

Cast

Elli Medeiros (Leonera by Pablo Trapero, Disorder by Olivier Assayas, Après Lui by Gael Morel, Hard by Cathy Verney)

Anton Kouzemin (Le cri du Homard, Cesar best short 2013)

Ophélie Honore (Plutot la vie by Kaspar Vogler 2013)

Camille Voglaire (Les oiseaux de passage by Olivier Ringer)

Music by

Jean Waterlot (Montevideo /// Ghinzu /// www.soundofvision.be )

Karim Baggili (www.karimbaggili.be)

La Jungle (www.lajungleband.com)

Crew

Styling by Catherine Marchand (L'enquête by Gilles Lellouche, A quiet passion by Terence Davies, Marina by Stijn Conickx.)

Make up by Fabienne Adam (Tout de suite by Richard Berry, Les barons by Nabil ben Yadir, La régate by Bernard Bellefroid)

Hair by Vincent Respriget

Art Department by Beatriz Arteaga

INTENTION

The main topic : loss and grief.

Grief is an intimate moment, where we lose our bearings and have to find, in our own way, the key to move forward.

Accouphène (tinnitus) opposes two people, the mother and the best friend, each looking to grieve in their own way. Each has their ego, their story, their needs.

Linda, the mom, is a strong-willed woman, a rockstar. She’s never been around much, out of her son’s pace.

Seb, the best friend, is a young punk at odds with the adult world. He lives on his own, in a trailer in his dad’s backyard.

Guiding the script are the 5 theoretical steps of grief : denial - anger - bargaining - depression - acceptance

Each of the characters will need to go thought these steps to move forward. Accouphène mostly follows Sebastien’s process.

I wanted to address the issue of grief for several reasons, the first one being my personal experience. Losing someone close is always a process that needs to be overcome, for better or worse. That ordeal can be even harder when you shared a common goal with that person, such as the dream of becoming a famous musician. The second reason is me looking towards the future and fearing the day some of my loved ones die. Maybe I won’t be able to say or do what I’ll want. Maybe I’ll have to deal with people wanting to do or say crazy things that will seem absurd or inappropriate to me. Grief is a time where you also have to make compromises, forgive and forget to be able to get closure.

I find human reactions to grief deeply fascinating. Grief is a process full of dark areas that must little by little welcome the light. In that film, I intend to give the portrayal of an encounter. Two people in an inside no man’s land who will have to find a common ground and listen to each other.

Underlying topic : Art and addiction vs abandonment

Neglecting your family for an artistic addiction is something that somewhat fascinates me. Many big talents often have to face that choice in order to pursue their dream of fame and success. In my first documentary My Mona Lisa, I explored the relationship between passion and family life of a famous guitarist in Uruguay. Linda’s character is directly inspired by this story. The backbone of this story is the indisputable link with music that unites the two main characters. Each of them is a rockstar, either a established one or in the making. Both have this musical drug running through their veins, and they suffer from this addiction. Seb hates Linda, but at the same time he dreams of becoming what she is.

SHAPE

GENERAL

Acouphène is a raw, deep-rooted film. Impulses, brief moments, questions, lengths which will be subtly caught to give life to the story.

Three pictures will punctuate the narrative with a language completely opposed to the rest. These pictures bring us inside Sébastien’s head. Inside his memories, his anxiety. They depict the character’s loss of balance.

Picture 1: The incident /// Scène 02 Flash back

Tableau 2: Anxiety /// Scène 09 School show

Tableau 3: Catharsis /// Scène 18 Final scene in front of the door

PACE AND FRAMING

Every scene begins with a series of layout frames. The camera introduces the scene’s dramatic ingredients to us. A parakeet, a cassette running in a tape recorder, a gold record. The camera is the omniscient eye revealing everything to the viewer.

Then the acting begins. The actors are trapped into the reality of a long sequence shot, or what seems like one. The camera language is raw and direct. The actors don’t have any way out. The shoulder camera seeks and finds the emotions. It’s there to hold the energy flow between the bodies and the objects, not to put tints into place or set a frame. It surrounds the acting and puts it in a state of tension. Energy, uninterrupted movement and tension in the camera language are there to create a loss of bearings, to grasp the viewer into a spiralling movement that prevents him from taking any distance.

The pictures, on the other hand, are at odds with this tense atmosphere. These 3 pictures are moments of relief, breathing, levitating. They’re like 3 holes in a shoebox set up for a tiny animal through which it can breathe. Shot in high speed, they give the viewer moments to think.

The camera floats in steady cam. It makes us a bit dizzy, spins, and rotates on itself to reveal key moments. It’s as if it had internal ear problems, would lose its balance and then try to hold itself up to whatever it can catch.

MUSIC

The main theme from the film will be a piece of melodic arpeggio on an acoustic guitar. Filled with a certain softness, this arpeggio evolves into little dissonances, then gets carried away into a chaos of notes ending brutally, just like that.

SOUND DESIGN

Balance and hearing are falling apart together. Blood presses on the temple. The eardrum softens, distorts, tears up. A malfunctioning internal ear creates a loss of balance. Sound design will go close to the unbearable and recreate some of these acouphènes (tinnitus). Larsen effects will come into the mix, dilute themselves into layers and buzzing.

CHARACTERS

LINDA

played by Elli Medeiros

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(Photo: Phillipe Braquenier /// Styling: Catherine Marchand /// Make Up: Fabienne Adam /// Hair: Vincent Respriget /// Accessories: Espèces)

She wants to forget.

Linda is a hard woman. No mother would like to be like her, and that’s where lies all the ambition in the character’s interpretation. She is filled with tensions, ego, remorse and contradiction, a very rich character. She gave in to her fantasy of fame and success.. but she didn’t really have a choice. Like all true artists, she puts up with her art. She is dominated by an external force that pushes her to work, persist, and offer herself completely to her art.

Linda is a strong animal. She dwells a thick shell which only cracks during the final scene. According to me, said shell takes two aspects in the script :

- Mental shell: She is a extremely demanding with herself. She takes a stance and won’t move from it. Her pride and persona prevent her from changing opinion. She’s the kind of person who would rather die than admit she was wrong.

- Physical shell: Her house. She comes home to her lair. But Seb comes around to crack that shell and break in.

SEB

played by Anton Kouzemin

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(Photo: Phillipe Braquenier /// Styling: Catherine Marchand /// Make Up: Fabienne Adam /// Hair: Vincent Respriget)

Seb is a rebellious figure. Music became his religion. He grew up in hte poor neighbourhoods of a wealthy small town and was pretty much left to take care of himself at a young age. He’s 19. His parents kicked him out and don’t care much about him. They’re estranged. He lives in a backyard trailer amongst waste and scrap heap piled up by his father.

His band and friends are the only things that matter to him. A true substitue family. He’s still a kid, but hardships have already scarred his face and body. He’s in pain.

CAMILLE

played by Ophélie Honoré

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(Photo: Phillipe Braquenier /// Styling: Catherine Marchand /// Make Up: Fabienne Adam /// Hair: Vincent Respriget)

Camille is a sweet gothic-punk girl. She plays the drums and her dad’s garage is where the band practices. She likes to play the rebel but she is the nicest girl around. She’s the motherly figure of the band. Balanced and sensible, she always finds the right words to reason. She’s in control of her own emotions and try to help her friends with theirs.

JUSTINE

played by Camille Voglaire

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(Photo: Phillipe Braquenier /// Styling: Catherine Marchand /// Make Up: Fabienne Adam /// Hair: Vincent Respriget)

Fragile, sensitive, she’s like a china doll. She plays bass. He boyfriend just died. She tries to stand on her legs. Her friends are there to keep her up.

DIRECTOR's FORMER PROJECTS

MY MONALISA (Feature Documentary)

B.D. BANX (Video Clip)

AU POIL PRES... (short film)

NASTY PANDA (Video Clip)

Acouphene

The publications