5Q's w/: Benjamin Maublanc "RED: Beast Huntress" Director
QUESTION 1: What about your film excites you the most?
One of the aspects I find most fascinating about my film is the handcrafted approach behind its creation. I strongly believe in the sincerity of what’s captured on screen: sets made of real flesh and bone, tangible props and costumes, practical effects that truly exist, and so on. This pursuit of authenticity — especially in a fantastical context like this one — is what gives the film its strength. Because when the fantastical becomes tangible, it becomes believable, and that’s when interesting boundaries start to shift.
QUESTION 2: What is it about your current movie that will influence your next film?
Clearly, attention to production design is and will remain one of my foundations. I particularly enjoy creating worlds in which the audience can immerse themselves for the duration of a story. On another note, I’ve realized that I spent a lot of time filming my characters to show them as I see them: courageous and dignified, or vile and dangerous. But I also realize that I showed very little of what my characters are looking at — or rather, how they perceive their world. For my next film, I’d like to explore this question of point of view more deeply and look for a more diegetic angle, to fully pursue my search for “roundness.”
QUESTION 3: When you’re shooting a film do you think of time as something you capture or something you construct?
I have to admit, I don’t really think about time that much. Probably because I make films rooted in the present. Still, I feel that time tends to present itself to me rather than something I try to control. I don’t have a firm position on it.
QUESTION 4: What’s a limitation you wish you had on your next shoot that would force you into making interesting creative decisions?
One limitation I’d like to have — which, to be honest, wouldn’t really feel like a limitation — would be to work with producers, distributors, and the whole ecosystem that surrounds a film. So far, I’ve mostly made self-produced films or student projects, with a lot of freedom but limited resources. I think having thoughtful discussions to defend your point of view is extremely enriching. Defending your vision forces you to distinguish what’s important from what isn’t. Without being challenged enough, it’s easy to end up making choices based on your personal desires rather than what the film truly needs.
QUESTION 5: If a film shoot is like a living organism which department do you think functions as its nervous system?
The obvious answer might be to say the directing department, led by the director. But the truth is that a shoot is much more than that, and I strongly believe in the strength and impact of the craftsmen at the forefront — those who make what we see on screen: whether it’s the actors, the set designers, the props team, or the costume department. The list could go on. I think it’s time, and I say this for myself as well, to consider films more as a horizontal and collective force, where ideas can come from the ground up and not only trickle down.
