“The subject was close to my heart. Louis Alexandre, a ninth-grade student at Jean-Moulin College, has just finished filming his first film, 180 Days.
The young 15-year-old filmmaker had the idea for this medium-length film lasting around 40 minutes during the first confinement, in the spring of 2020 (our editions of June 11, 2021 and January 28, 2022). Since then, the administrative procedures are what took him the most time. “Obtaining all the necessary authorizations was not easy. We had to wait a long time for authorization from the county council and the municipality,” he confides. “For the authorization of the college, it was a little simpler. »
Marie Poupinet and Mathieu Dorlotin, chief operator during the filming of “180 Days” by Louis Alexandre, director and actor in the role of Gabriel.
Simpler but not necessarily granted in advance. Louis was able to count on the support of the establishment’s principal, David Elleaume, after presenting the project to the board of directors.
The support of professionals
At the same time, the director had to find all the participants. “They are all volunteers,” he says. “We had opened a kitty but we collected only €700,” he explains.
Louis Alexandre was able to count on the help of his parents, but not only. A screenwriter helped him and confirmed him in his directing choices. Twelve actors were found thanks in particular to the filming of 100 Links carried out in Lyon a year ago. “We got along very quickly and we kept in touch,” explains Yanis Chekkin, 24-year-old actor. Other actors were found thanks to social networks and the determination of Chartrain.
premium Louis Alexandre, 15, shoots his film in the streets of Chartres
In the same way, Louis surrounded himself with an assistant director, Marie Poupinet. Aged 21, the young professional is, for her part, on her fifth shoot.
Gwenaëlle Anglade, actress and director, is also Louis’ theater teacher and has agreed to play the role of one of the teachers. In addition, other confirmed young actors took part in the project. Adrian Valli de Villebonne had previously played in Lupine, alongside Omar Sy, broadcast on Netflix. For her part, Clara Cantos, known for having played in the series Un si grand soleil, broadcast on France 2, also shot in Louis’s film. The chief operator, Matthieu Dorlotin is from Chartrain and a videographer for the company ADP Vision.
Louis Alexandre in Chartres as an actor and director of his own film “180 Days”
For him, the main difficulties were finding the sets.
If the subject of the film came in 2020, the idea of embarking on the production of his own film came during the filming in Lyon. “The subject revolved around a young filmmaker’s dream of making his own films. It had an impact on me”, book Louis Alexandre who plays the role of Gabriel in his film. “The subject was in my head, my participation in the film confirmed it. »
A sensible subject
Dealing with school bullying for college students is not trivial. The subject is still topical in schools and outside. “Too many people face this problem. We talked about it a lot between comrades and I wanted to deal with this subject to sensitize other people. »
This young schoolboy from Chartres is a filmmaker… at only 15 years old
Now that the filming is over. An important part of the construction of the film is to come. “Calibrate, edit” will last a few months. Then comes the broadcast, perhaps in September: “The director of the Les Enfants du Paradis cinema told me that she agreed to broadcast it punctually, but not everything is 100% done yet. »
The medium-length film will surely also be visible on the Sofa VOD on-demand broadcasting platform, specializing in independent films.
Louis Alexandre amazed those who met him thanks to his maturity
Relatives, actors, professionals or educational staff, all were surprised by the maturity shown by Louis during this project. There is no shortage of praise when asked to describe the Chartrain filmmaker.
Ludovic Alexandre, his father said:
“I am amazed. I didn’t have much to do except support him. I finance little things and pay for insurance. Other than that, he’s in charge. »
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Its principal, David Elleaume, at Jean Moulin College, underlines:
“His professionalism. Not everyone is able to carry out such a project in life, especially at their age. Louis is an invested student who knows how to face up to responsibilities. He is a representative of his class and was elected as a member of the board of directors of the college. It was there, at the very beginning of the year, that he presented his idea to us. We were all thrilled! I am surprised by his maturity, his organization and the network he was able to create. When we saw the first excerpts from his film, we understood that it was not an amateur film but a work of professionals. »
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For Marie Poupinet, the assistant director, the observation is clear:
” I am very impressed. He is very young but was not afraid to embark on this project. He captivated everyone. He manages everything, all by himself! He managed to take all the steps and obtain all the necessary authorizations to be able, in particular, to shoot in Chartres. He found all the extras, all the actors. At his age, it’s really impressive. Even outside of the filming aspects, he organized all the logistics from the schedule down to the meals very well. »
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Thomas Desprez
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