The director and screenwriter was born in Dunkirk and grew up in the countryside of northern France. He first studied film at Lille and then directing at the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) in Belgium. In 2022, he co-wrote and co-directed the short film Hurricane Sofia with Lili Back. Oiseau de passage is his graduation film.
1. What was your starting point for „Oiseau de passage“?
The film began with several particular emotions that I found hard to digest. I started writing, thinking about a particular grief that had happened when I was a teenager. And of the emotions surrounding that bereavement, there’s the guilt that became more and more present until it encompassed everything. How do you deal with irrational guilt? The film was born out of a desire to portray the feeling of abandoning loved ones and people, and the guilt that goes with it. Having grown up in the north of France, when I arrived in Brussels, I focused 100% of my energy on my desire to make films, even if it meant forgetting the people I grew up with. It was when I came across the obituary of one of my brother’s childhood friends that the need to make this film became obvious.
2. Do you have a favorite moment in the film? Which one and why this one?
This short film is conceived as an almost continuous moment. Almost a dream. It’s hard to define a dream’s favorite moment.
3. What do you like about the short form?
Radicality, simplicity, sincerity.
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PRESS REVIEWS
„This graduation film explores the feeling of mourning as well as that of memory and guilt. This intimate short film is directly inspired by the experiences of Victor Dupuis.“
mention on cinergie
„It is the emotions surrounding this mourning that the young director has recovered and mixed with other personal experiences. The first scene of the short film is the image of Rémy’s friend drowned in a pond.“
mention by Sylvie Demilly for lavoixdunord
„The film “ Wandering Bird ” also deals with the topic of loss, guilt and coming to terms with it and finds a quiet but successful way to do so.“
mention in german by Doreen Kaltenecker for Testkammer
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ETC.
„In Oiseau de passage, a sound recordist uses a highly sensitive microphone to contact his dead friend. Listening together leads to listening to one another and, ultimately, to forgiveness – a gesture that we so rarely get to see and yet so urgently need at the moment.“
interview with section head Anna Henckel-Donnersmarck for Berlinale Topics
reactions on letterboxd
Berlinale Shorts 