Welcome to the Ulule blog’s new column ! Ululer of the week enlightens a project owner currently fundraising on Ulule… A new way to discover and find out more about the talented people hidden behind all the sites’s good ideas.

Mélanie Delloye

Mélanie is both French and Colombian. After studying Russian and Philosophy in Paris, she moved to New York to follow NYU Graduate Film Program. Anna and Jérôme is her final graduate project, a road movie born from the encounter of two characters, a woman and a little boy…

                            

Anna and Jérôme teaser

How did you meet the French actress Élodie Bouchez ?  

I started looking into meeting Elodie right after I finished writing the script. I really wrote the story thinking of her to embody Anna. I got in touch with her through a friend, I sent her the script and we simply got coffee together to talk about the project. Elodie liked it, I guess she was moved by the character.. It was a beautiful first encounter and that is how it all started…

How is the casting going for Jerome ? 

We are in the process of looking for him nearby Fécamp where the film will be shot in Normandy. It is a very important step as the little boy that will play Jerome will influence the movie with his personality. 

Can you tell us more about your previous work “Anarchy” ? 

Anarchy is a music video I shot in New York last december for the Stumblebums. We wanted to simply tell the story of a break-up. 

The project comes from a collaboration between the NYU and Sony, who were preparing the launch of a new camera: the Sony PMW-F3. The chief cameraman that worked on Anarchy is Leonardo D’Antoni and he will be directing the photography of Anna and Jérôme. 

Where do you find inspiration ? 

Sometimes a simple image, or a memory can be a source of inspiration. I realize that what moves me the most is often linked with childhood, family relations, travels and also identity. Themes I find in the stories I write and that I want to keep on exploring.

Which step of the creative process do you enjoy the most ? 

From the moment I get the idea, to script writing, and then the shooting and editing, there are so many things going on ! I think that what I like the most in cinema, are the collaborations and the dialogue with actors and crew members. In the end, the first story I imagined will evolve with other people’s ideas, it is from the exchange with others that the idea finally transform and comes to life. Right now I am going through an important step in the creative process since the writing is finalized, I start sharing it with the chief cameraman, the production designer, my assistant, etc.

I am just back from Fécamp, the little town in Normandy where the movie will be shot, I checked locations for a week and absorbed the atmosphere of Anna and Jérôme to visualize the first images of the movie!

What is the last movie you saw ? What did you think of it ? 

I really liked A Separation, an Iranian movie by Asghar Farhadi. He films the characters with such simplicity. It creates an interesting and beautiful contrast with the complexity of emotions. I was also very impressed by his work directing the children that play in the movie.  

Can you tell us more about a Ulule project you like, follow or support ? 

I discovered Ulule through my producer, Robin Robles. I really liked the projects’ diversity represented on the website. I was moved by the documentary project  A parallel world by Shei Tan on the Sikerei tribe of Indonesia. The images are beautiful and the interviews make me want to discover more about this culture. I hope to see the finalized documentary one day ! 

Can you tell us a story of an owl ? 

 I know a french tongue twister with an owl…if I translate it, it goes : The magpie nests high. The goose nests low. Where does the owl nest ? The owl nests neither high nor low.

Find out more about Anna and Jérôme, Mélanie Delloye’s project on Ulule.