Interview with Mickaël Abbate, one of the directors of the fascinating Phantasmagoria, suspenseful horror film composed of three segments: Diabolique (directed by Mickaël Abbate), My Gift to You by Tiziano Martella and The Steel-Tongued Serpent by Domiziano Cristopharo. The three films are tied together by short stop-motion animated sequences (edited by Paolo Gaudio).
Mickaël Abbate tells us about his film Diabolique, the initial segment of Phantasmagoria, and of his future plans.
L: Hi Mickaël, thank you for giving us this interview! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
M: Hi Barbara. It's a pleasure to be interviewed by DarkVeins. I'm Mickaël Abbate, a young French director who just presented his first film at the Rome Fantafestival, Phantasmagoria. The reviews are mostly positive!
L: You are the director of the Festival “Samain du Cinéma Fantastique.” Can you tell us about this experience of yours?
M: That's right, I have also been the director of the Festival since 2012. I co-founded this Festival in Nice with Hélène Mayet in 2010. The city of Nice felt the need to expand its program on cinema, and we immediately responded that way. We were offered a great opportunity.
L: What do you like about this festival?
M: The audience, the master-classes and the conviviality. We have our regular audiences, mostly students... Our festival also opens to Italy... Last year, there were many Italian fans in our movie theaters.
L: How did you get started in filmmaking and, more specifically, what draws you to the horror genre?
M: I grew up with horror movies. When I was a kid, I used to watch every VHS that came my way without any restrictions from my parents... Sometimes it was a real shock to me. I still feel the bitter taste for “Cannibal Holocaust” and “Face of Death” (haha).
I studied communication, then trained in the art of dubbing. For a while I really enjoyed this work, but it was not for me. I started directing short films at the age of fourteen using a VHS-C camcorder. I love cinema, but I am a fan of the thriller and slasher genres. I love suspense in movies.
L: How did the idea for Phantasmagoria come about? What can you tell us about the beautiful title and and poster?
M: It is my idea and Domiziano Cristopharo's idea. Domiziano wanted to work with me on this project for several years. Before that I was his festival manager for his first films. I love his universe, he is a crazy guy and very talented. In 2012 he told me about an idea for a film
about ghosts-this idea came back to me many times. Then I thought about all those Italian films--we watched them all on VHS because VHS had a definite feel to it. And so I thought it would be really great to revive Italian horror cinema with a retro-looking film, with rich and powerful stories that would bewitch the viewers. The film also had to have enchanting music and a beautiful poster.... Phantasmagoria Is a door to the world of the imaginary. It is an illusion in which the world of the dead and the world of the living can communicate with each other and also with each of us. I like the idea of developing and interpreting fear about our deepest fears.
As for the movie poster, it was crucial for me to have a poster that would bewitch the viewer...a movie can be forgotten in a few hours, but a poster can live a long time if it is done very well.
I am thrilled to have worked with Federico Bebber and Malleus on the posters. Malleus is monstrously talented, I am really happy to have worked with these two great Italian figures in the illustration and drawing industry.
L: What got you most excited about this project?
M: Doing something different (haha). When the funds were put together, and after finding new co-producers (Extreme Video of Eaters, Zombie Massacre), the line to follow for all three sketches in the film was clear, both to work quickly and efficiently, but also to respect our old directors. So I decided to make a film that would evoke the films of Roman Polanski or the films of Pupi Avati. Our rules were simple: suggestion, a date (October 31) and give a definition of fear.
L: The film just had its premiere at Fantafestival. Can you describe that experience?
M: It was fun -- I enjoyed the closeness with the audience. I met the future producers. I would also like to thank the festival organizers who did their best to organize this 34th edition. I hope to come back in the future with a new film.
L: How would you describe your segment Diabolique? Where did the idea of an isolated, haunted house in history come from?
M: Diabolique is a haunted movie like Phantasmagoria, we experienced interruptions during filming, post-production and even during the screening at Fantafestival (ahahah). As if there was a ghost behind us... Apparently it is not only in “Poltergeist” or “The Omen” that unexplained and mysterious things occurred (hahahah).
Diabolique is a preamble to the festivities provided in the segments by Tiziano Martella and Domiziano Cristopharo. I wanted to play the card of suggestion, mystery and frustration. I wanted to awaken the imagination in the viewer to take him or her with Marilyn, Manson, Michel and Mia (yes, many names with the letter “M,” bizarre isn't it?) to that mansion up there in the hills... So, I threw myself into writing a very simple story, with a group of students who will gradually disconnect from reality... until some of them feed their subconscious with a new rumor, an urban legend...
L: What is your favorite moment in your film?
M: It's hard to answer that. I know it by heart. I worked hard on the sound editing. I would say my favorite part is the beach scene. There's a kind of innocence, strangeness embodied by Maya Dolan in the way she plays her scene that I loved and still love.
Maya Dolan is pure, fragile. She embodies true beauty; she is the prey caught in a web.
I love the character of “Madame” played by Sophie Pâris. I enjoyed creating this figure and perfecting it during the filming with Sophie. These are moments that will remain in my memory for a long time.
L: Tell us about the casting for Diabolique and the fascinating music of this segment.
M: I met Maya Dolan at a party. She is a great girl, she responded very quickly to my proposal. I had known Dee Dee Barksdale for some time, ever since I became a glutton for her cookies. She works in an excellent coffee shop in the south of France--I was there many times during the process of writing the script. One day, she started speaking in English to her customers...I frankly asked her if she was interested in coming to the audition. She did very well to accept.
The characters of Michel and Mia were found during casting.
Sophie Pâris was in Dubai and came to me just 10 days before the shoot to play her role... She is just as crazy as her character in the film.
It was the first film experience for all of them, we worked very hard on the characters so that they were believable and to have perfect phonetic performance.
In parallel, I deeply believe that music is crucial in a film. To be honest, there is not just one film called “Diabolique,” but actually there are two. The first one is the one I shot, the second film is all in the audio. It was important for me to install a strange climax that would capture the audience and offer a different spectacle from what they are used to.
I had the opportunity to meet a great team. I enjoyed working with my sound mixer and sound designer Robin Bensiri, composer Antoine Bensa, Mike Theis from Gyrls, my editor Akseli Plane, and my DOP Stefan Hofmann. I discovered the Gyrls and Chela through my composer. I am happy with the positive reactions from the first screening at Fantafestival. I hope to work with all these talents again in an upcoming film.
L: What do you think of Phantasmagoria's other two segments, “My Gift to You” and “A Snake with a Steel Tongue”?
M: After working on post-production supervision, I would say I love them. Our segments are complementary despite being diametrically opposed. “Diabolique” is a story of mystery and fear associated with the unknown. In the second part My Gift to You, directed by Tiziano Martella, the story introduces frustration, the fears that do not hold back our emotions.
As for the last one, The Steel-Tongued Serpent directed by Domiziano Cristopharo, I must say that I like his story, it is dramatic, macabre and poetic. The story introduces the fear associated with losing someone you love, and that is always very difficult.
L: What was it like working with Tiziano Martella and Domiziano Cristopharo? How did the collaboration with them come about?
M: It was great. I am quite demanding and Domiziano Cristopharo is too. He knows the difficulties associated with this kind of production because of his experience with the saga POE. I enjoyed working with other technicians like Paolo Gaudio and Alessandro Redaelli.
L: What are your film influences?
M: I like William Friedkin, Greg Araki, Roman Polanski. I'm open-minded. I love indie films.
L: What is your favorite horror movie of all time and why?
M: The Exorcist. I also like The Burning, Bloody Bird (Stage Fright), Mysterious Skin, The Craft, Urban Legend (my favorite vice), Long Weekend, The Changeling, Misery, Rosemary's Baby, The Beyond, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie... I can watch these movies endlessly... Lately, I've been enjoying two French movies, Stranger by a Lake and You and The Night.
L: What are you working on right now? Can you give us some details?
M: Unfortunately, I can't say much because the few projects I want to tackle are really at an early stage. I'm writing a script with a Scandinavian production. The title is Aphrodite and it will be a drama with many erotic scenes and an influence from the Giallo genre. I'm also working on a new horror film, which for now is called It Gives Me The Creeps. It will be fun and creepy! And if you like dolls, you will love this movie. Chucky, Annabelle (The Conjuring) and co. will have little sisters (haha). I can't say who will participate in this project, but it will be fun to create a new kind of boogeyman and even hopefully develop a franchise with this title. We'll see. I hope to involve the Gyrls and Malleus again.
L: I will look forward to your films, especially the one about dolls! What are your future plans?
M: Support Phantasmagoria, our creepy creature. This is a strange, retro film. It has its own charm and style that can attract its audience to itself.
L: Leave a message for the DarkVeins community!
M: Thank you for taking the time to read me. I hope you will be able to see soon Phantasmagoria Somewhere near you. Be determined in what you do, we will win! Thank you for your support DarkVeins. See you!
L: Thank you for the interview Mickaël! I wish you the best of luck!
