Published
On April 24, the evening of the second round, the Arte channel will offer “Day of Glory”, a film that is both fiction and real.
The election will determine the end of the film.
AFP
A fictional film shot and broadcast live on the evening of the second round of the presidential election, the end of which will depend on the outcome of the election: this is the astonishing principle of “Glory Day”, which Arte will offer on April 24 on internet and in cinemas. “You will have the result at the same time as someone who is watching the news, but through a fiction. It’s a more poetic way to follow the presidential election,” smiles one of the co-producers, Florent Peiffer, in an interview with AFP.
“Day of Glory” will be shot on Sunday April 24 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:05 p.m. and broadcast at the same time, on the arte.tv site, YouTube and Facebook, as well as in around thirty cinemas in France. It recounts the reunion of two brothers, played by Félix Moati and Julien Campani, in their village in Lot-et-Garonne on the evening of the second round, following the death of their mother. At 8:00 p.m., these politically opposed brothers will discover the face of the newly elected president on television.
“The challenge is to have such precise timing that you arrive right in front of the television at that moment. It’s very repetitive, it’s not improvisation, “said AFP Jeanne Frenkel, who will co-direct the film with Cosme Castro.
This entanglement between fiction and reality implies that the scenario is both very precise and evolving until the last moment. “It is already 70% written and will be 85% following the first round” on April 10, explains co-producer François Pécheux.
Plan A, B, C
Because in addition to the result of the election, many parameters can influence the course of the film, essentially shot in sequence, without editing, with a single camera. This forced the team to plan for a multitude of possibilities, charging the actors to stay in character no matter what.
“Even if there is something unforeseen, it will be part of the film. The thing that scares me the most is the weather,” admits Jeanne Frenkel. “We have options, plans A, B, C. We have one film in mind, but at the same time we have five!” , she laughs. “For the actors, it’s a crazy thing, there are very few who take this risk,” underlines Florent Peiffer. “It’s worse than the theater because we are really in the real world, there is a truck that can pass unexpectedly, someone who can fall, etc.”
The music will also be played live, by Flavien Berger, darling of trendy critics and regular collaborator of the Frenkel-Castro duo. Both have been exploring for 7 years this concept of fiction filmed and broadcast live, which they have called “metacinema”. They have four to their credit, including the short film “Adieu Bohème” (2017, with the Paris Opera), but none of the magnitude of “Jour de lumière”. “To each project, we add layers of challenge, extras or live music,” comments Jeanne Frenkel. “It’s a skill, like making a clock.”
(AFP)
