How did Shiny Happy People first come together as a project?
The idea of a dictatorship of happiness was something I’ve wanted to explore for some time, as it reflects an actual feeling: the way the notion of happiness was kind of hijacked to become an injunction is something very scary. "Think about yourself" or "you are the only one in charge of your own happiness"... this concept is both highly individual, and kind of dangerous. We are forbidden to be sad or angry and that keeps us from fighting or rebelling against unfair situations, as if we were the only one responsible for it. As I finished my former film The Age of Reason, which also takes place in a singular world, I realized dystopia was the way I wanted to tell this story and started working on this film.

You had the unique task of creating an entirely 100% happy world for your characters to live in. What thought went into making your scenes both visually and sonically bright and happy?
Creating this world was very exciting, and I was not by myself in doing it. We worked hand-in-hand with the DOP, costume creator and chief-decorator to imagine a set of colors inspired by the wellness industry, and tried to create a contrast between the pastel, tropical tones and something incarcerating and oppressive. Clément Doumic composed the music and wanted to build a mixed soundtrack, mirroring gloomy depressing songs with joyful anthems, inspired by summer hits.

In the same way, your cast had to act joyful at all times, even if they weren't. What direction did you give to your cast to get such strong performances out of them?
We started by filming the picnic scene, as it involves a full group of fake-optimistic characters. We realized this scene would set the tone of the film and worked together to find the right way to express how the dictatorship would affect everyone, from comedians to the crowd around them. The comedians had the complicated tasks to build a "smiling mask", that would slightly turn into a grin, while communicating a depressed and scared energy. Luckily, they are very talented comedians that I admire a lot so it was a very joyful -for real this time- and exciting process.

The final scene of Souleymane Sylla's Manu breaking down and expressing his genuine despair is both incredibly touching and cathartic. Can you tell us about putting this climax together?
This specific moment of the film was both the reason why I wanted to make it in the first place, and a challenge... the only way to make this dramatic change of emotion credible and touching was to announce it from the beginning. Souleymane found a unique way to communicate his sadness and anxiety while wearing this smiling mask from the very first second, so putting this climax together lay on one single decision: casting Souleymane Sylla.

What was the biggest challenge in making this film?
Exactly that, actually: finding the right direction with the comedians, a coherent way to tell a story that takes place in a dystopian world while keeping it real.

What projects are coming for you in the future?
I am currently in the beginning of the writing process for my next project, and hope to film music videos, if this weird year we are living finally gives me a chance to.

Do you have any message for our Melbourne audience?
I just want to thank them and the festival for giving us the opportunity to share the film with an audience - especially so far from France. As mentioned, this is a weird year and we all miss actual interactions and other human beings - well not all of them, probably, but at least some of them! I am very thankful to Pigdon Street for giving us a chance to communicate through films and look forward to the moment we meet again in a cinema theater. Until then, stay safe and thank you so much for offering us a bit of your time to watch our film.