Born out of a screenplay competition program organized by the GREC and the Cinematheque of Grenoble and involving five segments of 2 minutes each by the same author and set in the same place, Mickaël Schapira Villain’s first short film follows five individuals with different disabilities, more precisely the impossibility to talk, touch, smell, hear and live. The film screened at different festivals around the world before playing in the Short Film Competition program at the Jameson Cinefest in Miskolc, Hungary.
A boy who is insensitive to pain; a young man who is in the coma; an old man who is almost deaf; a father-to-be who is dumb and a young woman who is unable to smell. These five stories complete this short film with five characters who have their disabilities in common.
“Incomplete” is a compelling short film – or rather a compilation of five extremely brief stories – that, because of its conceptual limitations, allows the director to tackle the subject of disability in a new yet highly poignant way, thus testing diverse, very subtle and personal perspectives on a delicate topic through separate but connected parts of life. Schapira Villain follows his characters as they deal with and accept situations that are linked to their disabilities and how they all react in their own personal way. But, they all share a sort of bond that in reality binds them through time. In that sense, each of the five segments presents its own theme and conflict and is directed with care, thought and precision and is remarkably crafted, from the commendable acting and the cinematography to the exquisitely executed costume and production designs.
Schapira Villain’s affective and personal gallery of portraits makes us feel and makes us aware of the struggle that certain people go through to get past their disability and the bravery they do it with. “Incomplete” is a subtle and creative cinematic wake-up call that most certainly demonstrates Schapira Villain’s evident talent.
O.T.: “Incomplets”
Production: Le Grec, France 2 (France 2015)
Producer: Anne Luthaud
Director: Mickaël Schapira Villain
Screenplay: Mickaël Schapira Villain
Cinematography: Pierre Baboin
Editing: Marc Lahore
Cast: Jean-Claude Deret, Raphaël Ferret, Jean Fornerod, Emilia Derou-Bernal, Wendy Nieto, David Bursztein
Color – 12 min.
