Jeanne Herre, the director every actor wants to work with

“Being a director and growing up in the shadows, right next to the light, gives me exactly the fame I need. More would be hard to live with, but less would probably hurt my pride a little,” he concludes. In short, a special place that Jeanne Herry, daughter of Julien Clerc and Miu-Miu, 44, had to find. A place he has now won in three films, that of a subtle auteur who shines in popular social cinema.

Four years after the release of the critically acclaimed Pupil (2018), which was about the journey of children born under X, the filmmaker this time focused on restorative justice to build the script. I will always see your faces (1). Focusing on associations that set up encounters between victims and criminals, this story was born in his mind after listening to a podcast; he loves it.

The power of the collective

Intrigued by this practice, created in 2014 and little known in France, the director documented himself for a long time until he was trained. “This dialogue between victims and aggressors fascinated me. Face to face people can share their feelings, talk and be heard. Everyone is moving, repairing and repairing in this powerful dynamic of the collective. I immediately saw in it an interesting framework for writing a film. I had to internalize all the protocols of these speaking frames, the limitations that I see as the rules of the game, in order to then imagine characters, issues, and strong scenes to play and film.

When I look at the confrontations on the networks, the thought comes to me that there is something to be repaired collectively

Jane Harry

Thanks to this status as mediator, Jeanne Heri was able to follow the course of these meetings from the inside, before imagining a film about compensation, but also about the benefits of dialogue, against an uncertain period that values ​​dispute and disagreement in form. of violence, which are the honey of social networks, of which Harry is absent, his old laptop proves it; When I notice the harshness of the confrontations on social networks, I think that there is something to be repaired collectively. Restorative justice offers real tools, provided there is real political will to implement them.”

A must-see movie

Even if her modesty prevents her from acknowledging it, Jeanne Hare has made a name for herself in dedicated cinema. “Any word or gesture made in public space has a political dimension, but I find it difficult to see myself as an activist because others are much more politicized than I am. Moreover, I do not have a rebellious nature. Sometimes I regret it, because I think it is beautiful, but considering myself a privileged person, there is no anger in me. This is no doubt why Jeanne Herry chose to make films that are both challenging and focused on light. “I would be very bad at identifying dysfunctional states. Rather, I strive to tell what works and show what happens when we work well together.”

I have a hard time seeing myself as an activist

Jane Harry

Choral film

A taste of the collective he likes to find on set and which inspires him from writing his scripts to imagining his character galleries. This taste of the ensemble film saves him the frustration of having to choose only one or two titles. And this child of the seraglio, shocked by the films of Francois Truffaut, Claude Sote, Yves Robert or later Cédric Klapisch (“Directors are all crazy for actors”), wants to entrust his stories to different actors.

My mother is an emotional actress who I also love to see as an audience

Jane Harry

“I’m a bit “cross-border”. In my castings, it is important for me to have a balance between actors, from theater or cinema, famous or little known; Therefore, for this film, Jeanne Hery had the pleasure of first directing Jean-Pierre Daroussin, Denis Podalides, Soulian Brahim, Adele Exarchopoulos, Dali Bensalah and Fred Testot, but also offered new scores to actors she knew well. Gilles Lelouch, Elodie Bouchez and her mother Miu-Miu. “My mother had acted in my first short film and was playing a small score Pupil. So I really enjoyed finding him in a tighter character where his acting could expand. She is an emotional actress who I also love to play as an audience member.”

In the video, Pupil, the teaser

A family of artists

Mother and daughter are very close in life. Jeanne and her older sister Angel (daughter of Miu-Miu and Patrick Dever, adopted by Julien Claire) were raised between their father and mother after their divorce in 1981. The famous parents insisted that their daughters’ routines do not turn off. from reality, but Zhanna happened to follow her father on tour and spend time on the set. Watching others play made her want to become an actress. “Growing up in a family of artists opened up a world of possibilities.”

I inherited some fundamental values ​​from my mother, such as listening, a sense of moral fairness, but also a wry sense of humor.

Jane Harry

After spending a year at the London Theater School, he entered the National Conservatoire of Dramatic Arts, then lived his career in reverse, starting in roles and ending up as an extra. “I was unemployed more often than active,” he smiles. Consequently, over the years, he found acting less exciting than writing. So he started writing the script He adores her (2014), her first film, which she spent nine years perfecting while having two children.

Sandrine Kiberlain played the role of the successful singer’s unconditional admirer, interpreted by Laurent Lafitte and loosely inspired by Julien Clerc. From this famous father figure, Jeanne Herry inherited her taste in music (she played drums and loved to sing) and, above all, a real sensitivity to sounds. “For the class cast I will always see your faces I paid special attention to the timbre of each to create the chords that make up the film’s score. From her mother, she inherited “some fundamental values ​​like listening, a form of moral righteousness, but also a wry sense of humor.”

“A thousand ways to make a movie”

Without denying her origin, Jeanne Herry does not want to be limited by her affiliation alone, but recognizes that the status of the daughter of artists helped her in the beginning as an “autonomous director”. “I didn’t even create a film school. . Luckily, I’ve been picking up a small bottle over the years and it’s given me confidence. I set my own rules and set my own methodology, because there are really a thousand ways to write scripts and make films. It is a space of freedom where I begin to find my way. In the three films, I feel like I’m gaining confidence, I’m more daring and feel more legitimate to say things, including to the actors.

multitalented

Elodie Bouchez, who filmed for him twice, confirms this. “On the set, Jeanne never misses a beat, and every word, every breath, every comma is important. He doesn’t give up until he gets what he wants.” Being a woman in a man’s world was not an obstacle, assures Zhanna Heri.

“Unlike my elders, who had to struggle, I benefit from the status of a female director. the gear changed, and everyone started asking female directors to tackle “subtle” or even “slightly masculine” themes. Obviously, I’d rather be chosen because I’m awesome, but if it gives me and women in general more opportunities, then so much the better. (Is laughing):

Zhanna Heri is multi-talented. He made a series of (to fly With Camille Cottin, the French remake Fleabag, by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) directed two episodes Ten percent (2015), a play at Comedie-Française and writing a book (80 summers in Gallimard). The pressure is stronger today because of his previous film. Pupil, was a success with over 900,000 admissions.

“Average Cinema”

The following: “Then I will always see your facesI would like to see Jeanne in a comedy with a social background à la Bacri-Jaoui or à la Nakache-Toledano,” confides her producer Hugo Seljanac, who has followed her since her debut. He adds: “It’s a chance to have Jeanne Herre in your life. This woman is intelligent, sensitive, caring, humorous and never judgmental. He changed the person and producer that I am. Since my debut, I have produced about twenty films, some of which were big hits, eg Large bathroom (2018)North Yard (2021) or: november (2022), but Pupil touched people’s hearts. This movie is an emotional sign. Besides, all the actors want to work with him. And even if his “medium cinema” is the most difficult – no huge comedies, no action films, no small auteur films – financiers are ready to follow it.

Jeanne Herry has changed the person and producer that I am

Hugo Selignac

This “in-between” cinema gives the director the impression that he is reclaiming a place that his parents occupied to some extent; ” he says. The succession of the family is guaranteed. If Julien Clerk sings Leave me alone, Jeanne Herry found hers. A separate place.

(1) I will always see your faces By Jeanne Herr, with Adele Exarchopoulos, Leila Bekhti, Elodie Boucher, Miu-Miu, Gilles Lelouch, Jean-Pierre Darussen… Released March 29.