“Rural youth are too rare on screen”

Why did you choose to shoot your first feature film in the heart of the rural world?

I grew up in Cressia, a village in the Jura, and I wanted to film this rural youth there, little represented in the cinema. For Twenty gods I was inspired by my environment and the people I grew up with. Like Totone, the hero of my film, many young people leave their studies early to work on farms. By comparing our journeys with those of my friends from Lyon and Paris, I understood that our life experiences were very different.

Are the relationships with risk and death different?

Yes, because in the countryside, the early empowerment of adolescents sometimes leads to danger. To meet and party, young people have to travel several kilometers. They return drunk and some are victims of road accidents. Instead of expressing their discomfort in the face of such drama, they often lock up their emotions. In the countryside, unlike the city, it is not common to go see a psychologist or talk about your feelings. I wanted to tell the story of the emotional modesty of these young people and to show how their flaws are expressed in other places, in romantic relationships for example. In my film, the roughness of the characters hides a great sensitivity and sometimes even vulnerability.

Is this the case for Totone, the main character?

Fragility and brutality constantly coexist within him. At 18, Totone has difficulty finding his place in the world and expressing his emotions. By embarking on the production of the county, he learns to be patient and meticulous in his actions and gains self-confidence. Throughout this initiatory journey, this young man acquires value in his own eyes. Like Comté, it is becoming more refined and more mature!

Why did you choose this narrative thread around manufacturing?

In my country, the work of most farmers is linked to the county which is an integral part of our territory and our traditions. This product, of which we are proud, is the subject of many local stories passed down from generation to generation… I found it amusing not to forget it, to the point of making it a key to resolving the plot.

In the image, your fiction has the appearance of a western…

Several elements contribute to infusing this tone drawn from American cinema that I appreciate: the use of the Scope format, in 2.35, sublimates the Jura spaces. Certain chosen optics, with their grain effects, give an organic tone to the image. We sought to create beautiful lighting for the entire film and we worked on details in the makeup and costumes, in order to reveal this western side of the characters.

Why are the actors in the film non-professionals?

Their ways of moving in space and expressing themselves bring to this fiction the authenticity that I was looking for. Clément Faveau, who plays Totone, was studying in an agricultural high school when we spotted him. Today he works on a poultry farm. For the role of his little sister, I chose Luna Garret, from my village. Maïwène Barthélémy, who plays Marie-Lise, Totone’s lover, was in agricultural BTS when she passed the casting. Most of the actors are farmers who are well established in their lives. I asked everyone to be themselves. They are very close to the energy that I wanted to convey to the viewer.