10 · 04 · 08

Philibert: “With this film, I confronted my fears”

Doris Morales/Translated by Caroline MacKinnon

[imagen]La moindre des choses was filmed in a psychiatric clinic by French director Nicolas Philibert, who is a special guest at this year’s FICM. The film presents us with the lives of patients and doctors preparing to perform a theatrical play as they do each summer.

But more than just showing us a day in the life of the patients at La Borde psychiatric clinic in France, Philibert tells us about a world of apparent mental illness in a very poetic way, with very deep respect. Showing how the inhabitants of the asylum laugh and cry just as every human being does was important, he told the audience after the screening of his film.
 
Philibert said that he had fears about the subject of mental illness and psychiatry, however with this film he was able to confront his fears and prejudices. At first, he didn’t think it was interesting to talk about mentally ill people, but after interviewing them, he wanted to make the film. “The movie is about how the protagonists interact with one another, as well as how the characters and the spectators react with one another,” he said.