Posted by French director Bérangère Samuel talks about her short film “Last Stop”, awarded by ISA in July season Bronze Best Thriller Short.
ISA: Tell us about your award and your experience in Independent Shorts Awards?
Bérangère Samuel: Firstly, thank you very much! I am always happy to share my experience as a filmmaker and it was a real pleasure to have my first short film “Last Stop” in the official selection at ISA. Independent Shorts Awards was an important festival for me due to its recognition by IMDb. Before the announcement of the winners, I was obviously quite stressed so it was an amazing moment when I read that “Last Stop” won the Bronze for the Best Thriller Short!! I am very proud of it.
ISA: You said your first short film. What about the others?
BS: Well, four or five months after shooting “Last Stop”, I wrote, directed and produced a second short film “The Bracelet”, a science fiction short film of 8 minutes too.
ISA: Back to “Last Stop”, how long was the shooting and which were the main challenges of producing it?
BS: The shooting wasn’t that long, just 3 nights. The location was amazing, and for the story, we, Agapetos Fa’aleava (my producer) and I, found it only a few days before the shoot! For a student and a first short film, “Last Stop” had many challenges and was a big learning curve for me. Firstly, the fight scene; we had to find a fight choreographer, think about the moves, organize rehearsals with the actors before the shoot and do some on set with the camera. The second challenge was more personal. I am French without any experience of directing. So, to direct the actors, Luis Barnett and Guy Williams, in English I developed my vocabulary and I kept my direction short and simple. And I was absolutely surprised and happy when I received compliments at the end of the shooting.
ISA: What are your overall career goals and what’s next?
BS: That’s the big question. I am currently writing my first feature. It’s a science fiction script about a woman who is coming back to Earth after a long exoplanet’s mission. The script is at its version 2 now. I am in Paris but in long-term, I really want to have an international career as a screenwriter, director, and producer.
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