Deeply affected by an accident that took her parents' lives, 16-year-old Manon has a grudge against the whole world, but an unexpected encounter is going to change her life Interested in all forms of arts, Alexandre Mexis is a French-Greek author of poems, plays, short-stories and short-films, a visual artist and a literature teacher. He is also a member of the PEN Club International, fighting for freedom of speech. Director Statement MUSTANG.S was born, in the summer of 2019, of my desire to write a short-story that gradually changed into images as the words went along. A story that mixes two worlds that are part of mine and sometimes meet, that of horses that have always fascinated me and that of teenagers to whom I like to pass on. At the beginning of the adventure, it was even the world of disabled children that interested me but for reasons of feasibility first, then because I wanted everyone to be able to identify more easily with my story, I chose a more common character, someone who could look like all of us and who is going through an ordeal that we could all, unfortunately, live one day. This short-film was also born from the desire or the need to film myself one of my stories after having written scripts for others: Partir (Leaving) for Tony Mastropietro, Un été en provence (A Summer in Provence) for Lionel Kabac, and after having watched many short-films as one of the organizers of the festivals of Fréjus (France) and Elounda (Greece). I thought that the time had come to cross this solid imaginary line that separates not only the viewer but also the critic, the programmer and even the judge, from the one who creates and takes all the risks. What’s more, once the decision was made to take this step, this desire then blended with the feeling of freedom that inspires the title MUSTANG.S and what these horses represent in our imagination. It should be noted that filming, initially planned in April several days in a row as is usually done, had to be delayed because of the Covid 19 pandemic. Indeed, it was necessary to start again the technical preparation of the horse because it was not possible to take care of him for a full month, which is a long time when we work with horses, the specific learnings of the film having to be started again almost from zero. Fortunately, as soon as the lockdown was over, the shooting could be launched but this time over separate days. It was necessary to take into account the sanitary measures to be followed and not to exceed the number of authorized persons at the filming. This is especially the case of the scene shot in high school where we had to give the impression that we had a normal class with fewer students in fact. Finally, if the period of lockdown allowed me to think more about the organization of the shooting and allowed the actors to prepare better, it was also a moment of waiting, of impatience because we all wanted to meet again to truly enter the story and make it live at last! AniFab judges aggregate score for Mustang.S is 9.8 out of 10 with one judge sobbing while writing, "I must be careful when I watch certain films to make sure my emotional state is clear and pure. I don't know if I watched Mustang.S with that clarity as I am still weeping. With yet another wave of quiet sobbing. Isn't this what we want films to do, to make us feel? Mustang.S needs to be part of the AniFab annual live festival and benefit screenings for 2021. Wonderful movie, I am still very touched that we get to share it with people who will appreciate it."
|
2021 Official #AniFab Monthly Selections
September 2021
Monthly SelectionAnimalis Fabula Film Festival official monthly selections have the opportunity to compete for monthly attention as well as inclusion in the annual live / virtual film festival in Austin, Texas and the end of year fundraising benefit for animal welfare. |