How did you develop the relationship between the characters of Zodi, Tehu and Julia in the film, and how did this relationship evolve over the course of the story?
Eric Barbier: It's a relationship that was already built into the script, I would say the script, the construction of the story, it was already the relationships, the story of this adventure, this Berber child who is going to cross, in fact, everything, countries and many adventures to get to Abu Dhabi and who will be able to find a person who helped him, who is played by Alexandra, who has a veterinarian in a specialized camel clinic, which exists, which is true. So that means, I'd say, the relationship between Zodi, Doctor Sadoul, since that's the character's name, and the dromedary, in fact, that was already there, it was a bit the core, the structure of the film. So then, what happened - and this is the only thing that's true - is, I'd say, the magic of films. It means that afterwards there's an encounter, Alexandra meets Yassir, Yassir meets Alexandra Yassir, who works with dromedaries, so doesn't necessarily know these animals. Alexandra The same. So after that, things evolve according to the situations Alexandra and Yassir play out, and so the situations will obviously make things evolve, make the film move, especially a film for animals. It's a film where it's complicated for the actors, because an animal isn't, we don't tell them... So they have to improvise all the time, we're always telling them to improvise, do that again, go there. So there's a kind of spontaneity where the actors have to react to the animal, to build themselves up, even when they're playing in pairs, which makes it quite complicated. So we're, everyone's always a bit... These are films where everyone's always a bit on deck and always ready to shoot. In fact, these aren't things that are very settled, they're things that have to be very flexible. And in that respect, I was really helped a lot by Alexandra and Yassir.
More room for improvisation, I think like that.
E. B.: Yes, yes, some scenes, yes, very much so.
And as for the story, it's a story that already existed.
E. B.: No, in fact, the story came from the producer, who showed me documentaries on camel racing in Abu Dhabi, where the camels are ridden by robots and the robots have whips that are controlled by remote controls, and the trainers can talk to the camels using walkie-talkies.
With specially trained dromedaries
E. B.: With camels that are great racers, as famous as the horses that race at the Arc de Triomphe, and worth a fortune. So that means it's really special. It's a world we don't know at all. And so, it's true that entering into this story in this way, I think... I really wanted to make a children's film, for example, because I thought it would be interesting, because it's based on other codes, on the bad guy, the good guy, the allies... But I had to find a subject that was very original. The film allowed me to do that. Here you are
Alexandra Lamy: A film for children, and if you don't mind me asking, for the whole family? Because even grown-ups can... Yes, because it's true, it's not a children's film. I mean, you can go just with adults, because it's still an adventure film, and there's a lot of stuff in there. It's not just a story about camel races. There's that, because first of all, the images are magnificent, and then there's the race too, but there's also everything it tells alongside it, there's the landscapes, well, it really is. And what's more, I think it's really a film to go and see in the cinema. Because when you think about it, a film like this really belongs in the cinema, because there are landscapes. Even the landscapes, even the light, which is almost a character, I was going to say, is very beautiful. So yes, but it's great because these are family films. You can go with your kids, but even adults can go on their own, and that's great too.
E. B.: But what's more, the story is really about learning, about a child leaving. And in fact, if you like, it's really about a child who grows up, and as Alexandra was saying, in fact, he crosses several worlds, he crosses several stages and in fact each stage, it's true that it's adventures, it's an adventure film, so there are lots of settings and it's true that the settings, the universe in which the film takes place, is quite magical.
He's a child who doesn't necessarily find his place in his community at first.
E. B.: Yes, because there's something a bit special about it. It's Yassir who'll say it, he's special. Why is he special? No, but it's true that he's a child who goes to school because he's the only one in his tribe. So, it's true that there's this relationship, but that's something for you to talk about, Yassir, your relationships with your friends and all that, you know.
Yassir Drief: For example. Yes, I like Zodi for one thing, because he's a lot like me, he's brave like me. But there's one thing that's not so much like me, and that's that he hates going to school. But I love going to school, I adore it. So yes, and as Alexandra and Eric said, go and see the film in the cinema because, well, it's really nice and you'll really like it. There's beautiful scenery and there's a lot, there's a lot of stuff, there's the race, there's the emotion, there's a lot of stuff. So yes, it's really nice.
Did you enjoy making this film?
Y. D. : Yes.
Was it your first film?
Y. D. : Yes, and I really loved it. I had a lot of good memories. For example, I learned to ride the moped. Yes, I wanted to do that all day long because I loved it so much. But I couldn't do it. Because I had to do other scenes. The camel was really nice. At first, I was a bit scared, but then, if he became my best friend every time I saw him, we'd hug and kiss. And when it was the last day, well, I was a bit sad and so was he. So, yeah, there you go.
A. L.: By the way, I think it's great because, as it's his first film, it's great because you're in a rather crazy environment to have a story like that. It's rare to have a story like that. And as you said earlier, you went to see the film, I mean, to find yourself in a film like this, an adventure, for your first film. I mean, this friendship with this animal that, in real life, you'd never imagine a story with a dromedary, it's still... Well, I mean for you, I mean earlier when you said: "When I saw the film, I said..." But yeah, it's great for a first film to have a film like that!
E. B.: Plus, it's true that it's a film full of adventure. He walks into a storm, so he's been through a sandstorm. We did some of it, it's not all live action, but there are a lot of live effects, so he's been through a sandstorm, then he walks onto a salt lake that almost collapses. Then he has to escape from an airport, so there's a lot... Then there are the races, as he races to earn enough money to leave. So all these elements were really for Yassir, the character goes through so many truly exceptional situations. It's really an adventure film. So it was very enjoyable.
And the music too, which was produced by Mika and adds a lot to the scenery.
E. B.: That's right. On a film that we call a "family" film, because you don't mean for children, a film for families, that is to say that we realize on the majority of films that have been made for children, in fact, that the music is an enormous part. When I say it's a huge part, I mean in terms of volume, 60% on average, and also in terms of, I'd say, conveying emotion. I'm not just talking about emotion, sadness or whatever. I'm also talking about energy, strength, joy. Music is always very important in children's films. And it's true that there was something really interesting about working with Mika. First of all, it was his first score, he'd never done anything like it before. He did a real film score. It's a real score, it's not just Mika songs. It's really a score, it's a score where there are moments where there's tension, where there's fear, where there has to be danger. So he really scored the film. And even if there are, there are two tracks that are very Mika. And it's also true that he brought a color to the film, a color that's a little different, I'd say, from when you take people who specialize in film music or who on this type of film can find a, I'd say a musical scheme that's more classic. And it's true that Mika brings an originality to the music that's really very strong.
And what were the biggest challenges you encountered during the shoot? The dromedaries? I think that was a challenge in itself.
E. B.: No, but that actually means challenges. I'm going back to the actors, but it's true that for Yassir and Alexandra, it was difficult. That means it's difficult. For example, we often talk about the scene, Alexandra's first scene, where she finds herself in the middle of 30 dromedaries, and they're tough dromedaries because, well, we're in Paris, that's fine, but when you're out there, in the middle of dromedaries, you find yourself with huge beasts. And the first scene she has to play is, frankly, I was thinking, but... We'd seen each other in Paris with Alexandra, and we'd done a bit of stuff, but when she arrived there, in Ouarzazate, I said to myself, "But tomorrow she's going to end up there. I knew where she was going to end up. I said to myself, but maybe she'll say "Oh no, but Eric, this isn't right! But what I didn't know was that she'd seen things. That's what I didn't know!
A. L.: Yes, yes, I'd gotten pretty close to the dromedaries, if you can put it that way... No, I mean, I did find out about them before I left, because it's an animal that can even be frightening. I mean, it's an animal that's 2.5 metres long, so you think, well, we don't really know what it's thinking, we don't know if it's going to bite. And what's great is that Eric, just before I shoot, shows me an absolutely atrocious video. So just before I came face to face with 20 dromedaries, he said to me, you know, sometimes dromedaries can be a bit tricky - didn't he do that to you? Luckily. - and he said, "Look, I'm going to show you something", and then he showed me a guy with a dromedary. I don't know what he does to dromedaries, but it must piss him off and the dromedary grabs him by the head like this and throws him out. And he says to me, "See, it's fun, but you've got to be careful! Come on, let's go", and I'm thinking "He's crazy! Why did he show me this? But it's atrocious." It made me laugh, and I thought "Oh dear".
E. B.: No, but it's a really good video.
A. L.: Very funny.
It's true that the scene where she's examining the dromedary is a technical gesture.
A. L.: Oh yes, of course, I've seen the vets before. I saw a young girl called Coralie, in Sète, who has dromedaries and who, it's true, passed on to me her passion and her love for these animals, because it's true that, well, you wouldn't think of it, it's not an animal where you think "Well, I'd like a little dromedary at home", nobody thinks that.
E. B.: They do now,
A. L.: Now all kids are going to want dromedaries.
E. B.: She has a dromedary.
Well, Julia had one as a child in Australia.
A. L.: Ah, well, I'll say it right away, parents, if you'll excuse us, because this is going to be a catastrophe, no more little cats, it's all going to be dromedaries now! It's a catastrophe, it's much bigger. But to come back to what you were saying. When I read it, I said to myself "Wow, to make a film out of this", because it could almost be, we could imagine it as a cartoon, it would almost be simpler, because it's still an animal, it's still a child. A friendship is, I mean, shopping, et cetera. I said to myself, "Well, it's very ballsy to do this in film" because it's not easy to do it, to put it into images, but it is ballsy, I was going to say. But it's true, and it works really well, because even to the end, well, even if I've seen a few images, but very few like this, when I've seen the film, I say "Wow, this is really strong" and it's even stronger because it's not a cartoon, it has exactly the tenderness, the emotion, the adventure that you'd find in a cartoon with a child, with an animal. And here, it's real, so it's even stronger, I think.
E. B.: And that's what was also difficult about what you were saying, i.e. the relationship between Yassir and the dromedary, which means building on what Alexandra is saying. In cartoons, things happen a little naturally, in other words, they're constructed, they're drawn. And here, it's true that in the physical relationship with the animal, managing to build a relationship where they're friends, where the dromedary listens to her, where the dromedary responds to her, was really... That was really the challenge of the film, to make this relationship between a child and an animal that's not very well known, and it's true that it's a bit strange because we have an image that says "it's a camel". When we say that someone isn't very nice, we say: "he's a camel", so there is, he has this rather harsh image, but in fact to build this link, that was the whole challenge of the film and I think it was really great. And what Yassir did with the animals, that was really great work.
And yes, the differences in scenery between the desert, its people, its village and then the Qatars with lots of camels. Yes, it's quite something. There's a real epic, a real ascent of a film.
E. B.: That's right, the subject of the film was also to go towards something that is the Berbers, so these are Berber peoples. What's more, we worked with real tribes, because at the start of the film, we brought together nomadic tribes who live in the Reg near Ouarzazate, and we grouped them together to make the village, so we had people who were used to living outdoors, who actually slept on the set, it was their tents and all that. And in fact, Alexandra and Yassir embedded themselves, so to speak, with the nomads. So that means that Yassir had the tent with his mother, but all around them were people who were nomads, who in the morning, when we arrived at 4 a.m. to shoot, woke up, went to look after the animals, went about their lives, cleaned up... So all the shots you see at the beginning of the film, when they're cleaning the tent and all that, were shots I filmed of them waking up. So it was also a question of integrating a certain history that we know very little about. We don't know much about nomadic Berbers, and there aren't many of them either, so by bringing them together and creating the film's dramatic movement, I wanted to go for something like that, something rather traditional - I don't like the word, I don't like the word, but people who live in a rather austere way, and to go to the Gulf countries, in particular Dubai and all that, which are countries where it's the opposite, it's luxury, oversized buildings, oversized camelodromes, he who in the film runs around riding his dromedary. In fact, over there, there's a robot who's going to ride his dromedary, he's entering another world, the world of technology, it was also about moving from something very traditional, towards technology, towards modernity. That was also the movement of the film.
