Such graceful smiles

18'10, DCP, 16/9
Production Le Fresnoy, National Contemporary Arts Studio, 2015.

Shown at the 2016 Blow-up Festival at the Chicago Arthouse Film Festival, 2016 PFFM Phoenix Film Festival in Melbourne, 2016 ACFF and Los Angels Cine Fest 2016.

Synopsis

Such graceful smiles is a 18 minutes sequence shot. The smile distinguishes the man from the animal. Its execution requires a multitude of muscles. Muscles to signify everything and its opposite. An empathic smile, seductive, victorious, mocking, sardonic, sadistic .... A smile to coax, as a weapon of mass destruction but also as a wound in the middle of the face. A joyous fauna, composed of a clumsy actress, a condescending director, three authoritative psychiatrists, a lecturer and her assistant with strange manners, a trio of singers on wheels accompanied by a children choir, creates stories intermingling and evoking the ambiguity of the smile through different narrative and performative paths. The entire film takes place in the same space but a space whose scenery changes constantly. We thus witness the successive fall of the sets as the film progressed to the total destitution of the scene.

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Actors: Marie Polet, Claudia Jack, Eric Paul & Patrick Sourdeval.
Dancer: Bryan Campbell.
Singers: Fanny Chatelain, Lorraine Ouvrieu & Sylvain Rebut-Minotti.
Percussionist: Anne-Constance Desgrousilliers.
The children of the Conservatoire de Lille, directed by Anne-Françoise Fritsch: Lilas Bausseron, Nathan Bayard, Emilie Caillet, Maxime El Hanafi, Violette Fonrose, Hacob Ghasabian, Sasha Lietar, Anna Miroslaw, Lisa Muchenbled, Nina Poirier, Astrea Postic, Lilas Radiguer, Pacome Riobe, Nell Van Leeuw & Louise Van Rechem.
Directed by Gabriel Desplanque.
Production: Lucie Bercez.
Assistants director: Anaïs Duquesnoy & Hugo Marchand.
Second assistant director: Robin Labriaud.
Actor direction: Angel Liegent.    
DOP: Guillaume Brault.
Camera Assistant: Bastien Rebena.
Chief Electrician: Jérémy Courmont.
Electricians assistants: Perrine Lauras, Lénaïc Pujol & Antoine Hache.
Chief machinist: Alexandre Gouveia.
Color grading: François Engrand.    
Chief Sound Operator: Jérôme Petit.
Perchwomen: Valentine Gelin & Ludivine Pele.
Sound assistant: Pierre Dernoncourt.
Sound editing: Jérôme Petit assisted by Valentine Gelin.
Sound mixing: Simon Apostolou.    
Setting: Coline Debee assisted by Béatrice Barrier, Alexis Langlois, Clio Simon & Maral Pourmandan.
Costumes: Julie Leclerc. Make-up: Audrey Boulin Assisted by Coralie Badenas.
Technical board: Simon Deschamps and Justine Van De Rosieren.
Catering: Séverine Lengagne.
Photographers: Gilles Ribero & Béatrice Barrier.