DarkVeins interviews Olivier Beguin, the director of Chimères who talks to us not only about his interesting feature on vampirism but also about some of his short films.
L: Hi Olivier, tell us about yourself.
O: Hi, I am Olivier Beguin, a Swiss filmmaker. I am currently touring festivals with my first feature film Chimères. I am also a big fan of cinema.
L: You are a big fan of genre films. Why do you like horror?
O: I especially like the genre and also fantasy movies. I love horror because it allows you to mix "real" feelings and emotions that you can identify with, but in a world or place different from our own. It is this opportunity to mix multiple ideas that I appreciate in genre cinema. Pure horror, on the other hand, appeals to me because of the images and the feelings it manages to convey. You don't just watch the film, you feel it physically. Not all genres allow this.
L: When did you start making films?
O: I think it all started with videos taken in the woods with my schoolmates when I was 15 years old. My grandfather - I can't thank him enough - bought a video camera, and that might sound strange to some young people today, but at that time it was a privilege to have access to a camera. But "filmmaking" might sound a little pretentious for what we were doing, I think. Although back then, I'm sure, we thought we were making better films than Raiders of the Lost Ark.
And then a few years later, I seriously considered filmmaking and left for London Film School, where I learned my craft and met my current cinematographer, Florian N. Gintenreiter.
L: You have also directed several successful short films such as the horror western Dead Bones and the fantasy comedy Employee of the Month. Can you tell us about them?
O: Dead Bones was my 4th short film, and we decided-along with producers Adan Martin and Annick Mahnert-to make a film that would be a kind of challenge for Switzerland: a horror-western, shot in Almeria, with Hollywood actors Ken Foree and Arie Verveen. I think it is right to be daring when making a new film, and this was definitely the case.
Then it was Employee of the Month, a small film, but I decided it would not be my first feature film. But again, I wanted a challenge and so I tried comedy, which is definitely a very difficult genre. But I still wanted it to be a "genre film," so about monsters. Unemployed monsters looking for work -- a funny cast including a zombie, a vampire, a mummy and a demon. These creatures were there thanks to my longtime make-up collaborator, David Scherer.
L: Chimères is your first feature film, a film that focuses on a slow and harrowing descent into vampirism. It's a very strange film in which the vampire myth has been revitalized. How did the idea come about? Can you talk about it?
O: It was rather a ... mutation, let's say. I originally intended to make another film as my first feature, but the project was a little too expensive for the money we had available. Then my co-writer Colin Vettier and I started jotting down ideas. We had a couple, but soon, the one about the vampire and a couple's story seemed the best-again, adapted to our budget.
I must say, however, that it started out as a dark comedy, a point of reference would be An American Werewolf in London. But soon, I felt I had to put the comedy aspect aside and focus on a love story.
So it all came together, making a vampire story but in a "realistic" way, to focus on the couple. In most vampire movies, a couple meets because of vampirism, so for my film, I wanted to focus on a couple that has been together for some time when the problem arises, since I have seen few such stories in movies. Then the film also evolved during the preparation, talking to the actors, Jasna Kohoutova and Yannick Rosset, and during the shooting. Not to mention the editing, during which we focused as much as possible on the couple and the love story.
L: Tell us something about the title. Why "Chimères"?
O: Actually during filming we had a working title. I provided a box where the team could come up with titles - and the winner would be rewarded with a bottle of whiskey. Unfortunately, it didn't work out well: we had both not very good titles and titles that were reminiscent of porn movies. Then, after filming, Jasna, who plays the main character, had an idea: Chimères. I liked it from the beginning, I liked both the sound and the different meanings of the word: 1) Greek monster 2) an illusion 3) in biology an organism composed of genetically distinct cells. I love titles that have different meanings.
L: Also in the cast is Catriona MacColl, known for acting in Lucio Fulci's films. Why did you choose her?
O: Catriona was already in my short film Employee of the Month. I got in touch with her through my makeup artist, David Scherer, who was working with her on Richard Stanley's The Theatre Bizarre segment. We enjoyed working together on Employee of the Month and she liked the team and our city. So when it came to Chimères, basically it was easy, and the role was written with her in mind. I really appreciate Catriona's trust in us and in those films.
L: Chimères is winning many awards on the festival circuit and has great reviews. Did you expect this success?
O: Actually two days before the world debut at the International Fantastic Film Festival in Neuchâtel, we were still working on the mix with Gwenn Deschenaux, the sound designer (and co-producer) and Lorris Gisana, the composer. So we didn't really have time to think about what would happen with the film once it was finished. We were certainly scared at the first screening of the film, that's for sure! But that first festival ended well, with good responses, reviews and special mention from the jury. We couldn't have hoped for a better start.
And then the reactions have been good, so we can't really complain. We are very happy to know that people of different ages are moved by a love story. So, of course, we hoped that people would like the story and be moved by it, but I can't say that we expected so much. This is a good reward for the whole team who worked hard to enable the making of this film!
L: Do you already have a distribution? What are the problems in finding it?
O: I am pleased to say that our international sales agent signed a couple of deals at the recent Cannes Market. As far as we know we have distribution-although it is very unlikely to be cinematic-in the United States, Canada and Germany. And a few other countries have shown interest. The biggest challenge apparently is to find distribution in our country, Switzerland but fingers crossed! And, of course, if an Italian distributor reads this interview, the rights are still available!
L: What are your favorite vampire movies?
O: I put Jordan's INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE and Bigelow's NEAR DARK on the same level. One very melancholy film and one very romantic. Two great vampire films that treat the characters seriously.
L: I love both of them, too. What is your favorite horror movie of all time?
O: I will never tire of saying this, but Cronenberg's The Fly was the most important film of my life. This is the only film that made me realize, at the age of 14, that a horror film could be a masterpiece and not just a "B-movie" - although I have nothing against the term B-movie. Movies that also had a strong impact on me back in the day - and that I still love are ANGEL HEART and HELLRAISER. Recently I was quite moved by MARTYRS. And of course I love all the classics like JAWS, THE EXORCIST, THE THING, ALIEN, SEVEN and THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE.
I recently had the good fortune to catch a screening of the remastered version and meet Mr. Hooper. Needless to say, I acted like a child in front of him....
L: Before I let you go, can you tell me what you are currently working on?
O: Unfortunately, I can't say much. Firstly because I haven't been able to work on anything because we've been around festivals recently and haven't had much time for that. And also because the few projects I want to tackle are really at an early stage. But I think what I would like to do is a film that is sort of a continuation of my short film DEAD BONES, a horror/western film.
L: Leave a message to the DarkVeins community!
O: Thank you for keeping the horror community alive. And hopefully some of you were able to see Chimères at Fantafestival!
L: I wish you good luck Olivier. Thank you for the talk!
