In her film “À pied d’oeuvre”, Valérie Donzelli recounts a photographer’s quest for meaning
What touched you in Franck Courtès’ novel of which this film is an adaptation?
This book is the story of a renowned photographer who abandons everything to devote himself to writing, which plunges him into poverty. He immediately took me back to my own family history: my paternal grandfather and great-grandfather were painters and sculptors. They lived in extreme precariousness. My father suffered a lot from this, which is why he reluctantly gave up a career as a designer.
Why does the hero of the film abandon his profession as a photographer?
He does not support the Uberization of his profession (competition from independent photographers who lower prices, editor’s note) . It’s a reality in our society: the need for profitability is crushing professionals in search of meaning. We thought caregivers, teachers and intellectual professions were protected from this, but this is not the case. By obedience to the law of capitalism, we direct human professions towards the sole objective of profit, which totally impoverishes our relationship with others. Why are the bosses of multinationals paid fortunes while the caregivers have poverty wages? It’s a political question. Things need to be reversed. How can we live in a system that devalues what gives meaning to our humanity? In this film, I tell the story of a man who rebels against this world that does not suit him.
What is he looking for?
His truth. What he wants is to observe the world and write about it. This is how he connects to his humanity and that of the people he meets. This is what carries me, and carries artists in general.
So this film tells about your own relationship to creation?
Yes, it’s one of the most intimate films I’ve made. The character of Paul is my double. When I’m preparing a film, I get up at 5 a.m., I don’t stop working and I feel fulfilled. In Hard at work, I tell you what it is to be an artist: to work hard, while experiencing a kind of love for your creation which takes up all the space. We doubt, we suffer, we are afraid. Creating a work takes time. Without writers, painters or musicians, the world would be crazy poor! We need artists. However, our society no longer cherishes them.
Paul’s entourage judges his life choice harshly. For what ?
When we are free, we are constantly judged, reframed, jealous and sometimes attacked. We are a mirror into which the other projects himself. A person’s freedom can be frightening. As Victor Hugo wrote, it takes courage to be an artist and accept this choice. But the hero of my film does not sink into depression because he knows that he is a precariously advantaged person. He considers himself a poor man rich in his art. While the people he observes – precarious workers – are destitute. This touches him and he writes about them.
Paul finds odd jobs on a platform where the labor force of each individual is auctioned off…
We were inspired by a site that existed where it is the person who offers the lowest price who is hired. A way of working that is not regulated by law. However, this is what the most precarious professions, for example certain couriers, experience. Each worker is then rated on these service platforms. Delusional! This harmful system generates a lot of anxiety, because evaluation is permanent and success is a priority. During screenings of my film at festivals in Venice, the United States and Brazil, I noticed that this movement of Uberization is universal and concerns all audiences, particularly young people. It is also for them that I made this film.
