Europe Film Festival U.K. spoke exclusively with Louis Bennies
What makes a film great for you? Are there certain qualities that make a film better for you?
It should have a good, heartfelt message/story. Actors that put a lot of passion into their characters. Sometimes, with certain movies, you can really feel that the director poured all his heart into them. I often come to appreciate films more that really take risks and go beyond the cliché.
What films have been the most inspiring or influential to you and why?
One of the most inspiring films for me is „Rocky“ a story of an underdog boxer who goes the distance since it really pushed me to never give up and believe in myself.
I’ve also seen a lot of modern films that inspired some of my filmmaking choices, for example, films by Drake Doremus. Often I also look for films that inspire the musical themes for my short films.
We are all here presumably partially because we LOVE cinema. How did your love for movies get sparked and what can we — as a community — do to help others discover a similar pleasure?
I don’t think you can help others discover that love. Of course, you can sit down and watch a film with someone but that’s about it. My love got sparked from a very young age, back when I watched films in first grade probably. Even back then I’ve always been kinda fascinated with them. I also remember films like Star Wars and Indiana Jones also being a huge influence on me as a kid.
What were the challenges in shooting this movie?
We had very difficult scenes like the ones in the car, where the cameraman was filming while I was driving. It was a heavy obstacle both in filming and post-production since the footage was very shaky.
Of course, the emotional scenes were also very difficult to film, since as a director it can be difficult to communicate what you want from the actors. That’s also one of the reasons why I think you have to be very enthusiastic, you have to show your actors how much these scenes really mean to you.
What does your movie convey to the audience and message?
FEELINGS is a story about Max, Fabian, and Lisa, three friends from primary school, that get torn apart when two of them fall for each other. The way the story is told, certainly does convey a certain type of realism. Sometimes, in life, not all things end up positively and you end up broken-hearted. I didn’t want to shy away from that at all. In terms of visual representation, the film offers an almost sepia-like tonality. I don’t intend the color grading to draw much attention to itself, which is why most scenes are graded the same way and don’t differ too much. I also didn’t want to come up with a story structure, that makes up for a big twist or something. I wanted the entire scenario to feel as if it could happen to anybody. I really hope people enjoy my film!