Clément Pinteaux was born in Paris, France in 1992 and studied literature and philosophy. The young filmmaker took up an editing course at La Fémis film school in Paris in 2013. His films blend fictional, documentary and mythical narratives. „Des jeunes filles disparaissent (Young Girls Vanish)“ is Cléments graduation film and at the same time his first film to be screened at Berlinale.
„De jeunes filles disparaissent (Young Girls Vanish)“ tells the story of 58 girls that were devoured by a wolf in French Essonne between 1652 and 1657. Four centuries later, young women are disappearing again in the same region. Clément Pinteaux sets out in search of clues. Crosses on a map mark the locations where the girls were attacked and found back then. A young woman talks about the one who vanished – a woman similar to her and yet different, whose work she continues. Pinteaux observes the girls in their surroundings, together, on the job. Who will be next? Will there be a next time? Situated between staging and documentation, the film meets the girls on an equal footing – tracing moments of potential threat.
What is your ambition in the film ?
Initially I wanted to make a film from the legends about the wolf in France. Then I discovered this historical episode of the XVII century which tells that a wolf had devoured 58 girls in Gâtinais, France. I knew nothing about the girls, only their name, the date of their death, and the way they had been killed. Returning to the site, I met the girls who lived there today and through them I tried to find these girls of the seventeenth century, to revive them. There is a bridge between all these girls who disappear.
What do you like about the short form ?
The short form interests me because it allows to make films that only hold on a feeling, an impression.
What are your future plans ?
I’m currently writing a film about modern miracles. Otherwise, I work mainly as editor, I have several upcoming film projects with directors that I like very much.
Berlinale Shorts 