Folie Glacée, 11min., Canada
Directed by Louis Rémillard
Eli et Vincent se commandent une collation à la crèmerie locale sans s'attendre aux horreurs qui ruineront leurs rendez-vous en amoureux

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

It all started with me and my friend, who's the director of photography on the film, hanging out in Montreal. We both got ourselves ice cream cones and as we were eating them, walking around, the idea of the story kind of came to us as a joke at first. I thought about it for a moment, and I ended up telling myself it would make a fun screenplay. I came up with the idea of the ice cream vendor being ill intended and serving contaminated ice cream and he suggested the idea of the couple being on a date. So I owe it a lot to my friend's encouragement and believing in my story once the screenplay was finally done. We were excited to make something that would be wacky, fun and horror since it is a genre we both liked very much.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

As it is for most passion projects, everyone was either working their full time job or started working on other projects. The crew was mostly composed of my newly graduated classmates so it was a dance of work-fun balance.I think it took about six months of production but since it was all done in free and voluntary time, those six months were spreaded throughout a whole year.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Wacky and bloody!

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

It was definitely having to shoot the film almost entirely at night. Scheduling became complicated because I wanted everyone on deck, comfortable and up to work. Having to rest throughout the day and having to shoot everything before sunrise became particularly challenging for the biological clock. We did everything possible to make the experience as fun as it could be and playing with fake blood, making scary scenes definitely contributed to the good ambiance on set. Although it was challenging, we have good laughs to look back to.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

All of those compliments definitely made me blush! Sincerely, I received compliments in the video about aspects of the film that I wanted people to experience and enjoy. Since it was my directorial debut, I was doubtful it had landed. Thus I am very grateful to learn it's a mission accomplished.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

For as long as I can remember, whenever I was asked as a kid "What do you want to do when you grow up?", my answer was always "I want to make movies". Of course, being so young, I had no real conception of what the process of filmmaking looked like but I was always drawn to the power of fiction and knew I wanted to express myself with that art form. Though, what motivated me to actually pursue that path was finding the confidence of fighting the stigma in my mind that artists are useless or broke. Living off your passion can look daunting when the time to choose a field of study comes but I think I wanted to make little kid-me proud.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

In theaters, most likely Oppenheimer. I think I went to see it six times in theaters. As for at home, probably any Sam Raimi movies. Both his superhero flicks and, more importantly, his horror flicks.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

I thought it was unfortunate I couldn't attend the private screening as I have yet to see my own film on the big screen. Other than that, the team was super welcoming and helpful to promote my film. The audience feedback video is an excellent idea and it makes the festival experience all the more fun. I think it would be even more helpful and interesting to receive feedback from the jury in the form of a video as well or in written form.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

As it was my first short film and first time submitting to a festival, I found the FilmFreeway platform to be very intuitive and welcoming.

10. What is your favorite meal?

Unironically, ICE CREAM !

11. What is next for you? A new film?

I definitely intend to keep trying my hand at making horror movies. It is a genre I cherish a lot, I would at least keep implementing horror tropes in my filmography. That being said, I am currently writing a western horror short film that I hope to produce very soon. I am also developing a half-documentary, half-fiction short film based on a true story. I can't say much about this one just yet as it is still in very early development but although it will mostly be a comedy, I fully intend on having scary horror scenes in that one too. Those are the two projects I am currently focused on.