The films “A Young Poet” and “The Lady With the Dog” were screened on Nov. 22 (Mon.) at 9:30 in Hall 1 of NTT CRED Hall followed by a talk show with invited guest Damien Manivel, the director and co-screenwriter of both films.

 Before screening the films, director Manivel stated, “Thank you very much for inviting me to the 2015 Hiroshima International Film Festival. Today, I will be screening my short film “The Lady With the Dog” (15 min.) and the full-length “A Young Poet” (71 min.). Both films feature the same actor, Rémi Taffanel. In the first film, he is 14 years old and 18 years old in the second one. I wanted the films to flow together, and also follow his growth and development. I would be very happy if you came to love Remi also.”

 During the talk show, Mr. Manivel answered a quite humorous question from the audience: “There is a scene in the “The Lady With the Dog” where this rather large lady invites a young man into her bed. Was that drawn from personal experience?” Mr. Manivel laughingly replied, “No, it was not from my own experience. I wanted to capture a vivid portrayal of real-life experience. You don’t know what will happen next, giving the scene a real suspenseful edge to it.” He also talked about how this film was influenced by the works of the Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

 Regarding “A Young Poet”, the director said, “I received an e-mail from Remi saying that he wanted to appear in my films again, and three weeks later we started filming without a script and no rehearsals. My situation was exactly the same as that of the main character who is seeking a spark of inspiration for his poem.” Mr. Manivel also touched on how even though Remi, who appears looking like a silent film character, always wearing the same clothes and sandals, was filmed with a fixed camera due to only having a three-person cinematography staff and no lighting director, filming in that manner provides images that draw the eye to small details, and creates a dialogue between Remi and the background scenery. He also discussed the difficulties faced when filming such an improvised work: “The randomness from the difficulty in trying to capture what might happen next is very important to the film. The film depends on coincidence. However, since I was filming a fictional story and not a documentary, we had to wait very patiently to catch such unexpected coincidences.”

 The director finished by stating, “I look forward to showing four of my short films today at 17:45 in Hall 2.”