Vincent Gilliet became a film teacher at the Lycée des Mascareignes by a happy coincidence, thanks to confinement. But it’s not certainly it’s no coincidence that he spent 4 days filming in Tamarin and Rivière Noire last June, his latest short film, Bon voyaz ! Dominique Bellier
This Frenchman spends most of his time writing screenplays and imagining films. As he was about to leave Mauritius after having lived there for thirteen years, it seemed natural to him to make a film in his heartland, the region where his children grew up and where he made unimaginable encounters.
Bon voyaz is a 13-minute drama in which the excellent Quincy Ramsamy, in the lead role of Élie, expresses her confident, whimsical personality. This young woman of character plays the role of a single mother, who defies destiny by imagining an extraordinary vacation with her children, Melvil and Romy… Vincent Gilliet wove thisstory with memories of his childhood in Auvergne, and the humanity and gentleness he encountered in Western Mauritius.
In an elegantly beautiful natural setting, this short film pays tribute to the power of women and highlights the human warmth of working-class neighborhoods. It celebrates benevolence, cultivates the virtues of hope and showcases sisterhood. The director defends “a simple, poetic vision of reality”.
The project brings together a talented actress and up-and-coming young actors in the role of children, as well as high-school students on the set. The cinematographer is from Reunion Island, and Alain Péters’ caressing melody, Rest’là Maloya, sets the mood. At the time of going to press, there’s no word on when Bon voyaz will be released, but there’s hope for September or October…
Rivage de la colère in theaters!
When she published Rivage de la colère, Caroline Laurent didn’t dare hope that this novel about the Chagossian tragedy would be adapted for the screen. For his part, Vincent Gilliet devoured the text on the water, during a boat trip to Plate Island. Since then, he has reread and annotated it so much that he knows it better than its author, according to the latter. He met Caroline at the Trou d’Eau Douce Festival in 2022 to declare his desire to make “a great cinema film” out of it. They hit it off instantly, and worked on the script together.
Vincent has since teamed up with Nine Pictures and convinced the production company La Boîte dans la Boîte. The fate of the Chagossians is incredible,” he says. This dispossession of a people’s territories, however small, represents an eminently modern struggle, which even the greatest heads of state are talking about. It’s also one woman’s struggle in a life made up of pitfalls and joys.” Now that the script has been written, the question is whether the first part of the film can be shot… in the Chagos!
