The Screening

In Depth with the Director - Hippolyte Cupillard

Tell us a little about yourself and your background in filmmaking

I started animation during my last year at the fine art of Besançon, in France where I realised a short film called Echo. Then i moved to Brussels where i co-funded the Studio TABASSco. I worked there for three years and then i did the school of La Poudrière to learn more about directing animation movies. There, I directed my short movie Irene’s Island. Now I live in France and I’ve worked on various project like J’ai perdu mon corps by Jéremy Clapin as a background artist also on short movies as an animator, such as Genius Loci by Adrien Merigeau, Je me gratte by Chenghua Yang and Terra Incognita by Adrian Dexter and Pernille Kjaer. Actually I’m working on personal projects.

How did The Screening first come together as a project?

I was practicing animation with the shot of a hand drawing on the ground and at a point i decided to transform it in a short film to support cinemas who are in difficult positions because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was important for me to share a message of hope with this short film.

The animation is a joy to look at. What is your process like in drafts, sketching and storyboards when you bring your vision to life?

Thank you. I started with a rough drawing of the movement and then I added some details and pictures to find the right rhythm. I like to have the music as an inspiration for the animation so I chose some beautiful songs made by my friends from the Amateur Music Life band.

The film acts as a love letter to theatre and cinemas, which have had a difficult past two years. What does it mean to you now that people are returning to cinemas, theatres and film festivals?

I’m very happy to see the people returning to cinema even if there are less people than before. I’ve noticed that some people are still afraid and prefer watching films on streaming platforms. It’s sad because cinema is a collective experience.

Nothing can change the movie theatre experience. Technically there is nothing more powerful than to really feel the movie inside our bones.

When you do short movies, film festivals are very important to meet an audience, new collaborators and also producers. We need it to show our movies and it’s a great celebration for the cinema. I love film festivals and I’m very happy that they are coming back. More than ever we need hope, good films, we need to dream.

What was the biggest challenge in making this film?

The biggest challenge was time, it took me three month to finish the movie and it was supposed to be out for the reopening of the cinemas. The editing and the the sound design was also quite difficult, as I did it all by myself. It’s hard to be satisfied.

What projects are coming for you in the future?

I am working on a personal project called Gemini. It’s a short movie and I’m looking for a producer. I’ll work also on the project of a friend as an animator and I’m doing some drawings for an exhibition in Osaka at Gallery IYN.

Do you have any message for our Melbourne audience?

Hello from Valence in France and I wish you a nice screening!