CADAVRE EXQUIS invites to a visual, acoustic and odorous ballad through the wandering of a one-eyed dog. In the maze of Old Hanoi's narrow streets, daily life and legend mingle on the syncopated rhythm of Hat Xam, the Vietnamese blues.

François Leroy studied Animation and Stéphanie Lansaque has worked as an art director for magazines and editions. In 2002, they traveled to Asia for the first time. They loved the atmosphere so much that they decided to work together on their first film GOODBYE MISTER CHU which talks about Vietnamese traditions and the lost soul’s festival. In 2009, they released MEI LING, a fantasy film which takes place behind closed doors in a Hong Kong apartment. Two other shorts about Vietnam then followed: RED RIVER, SÔNG HÔNG (2012), a social chronicle set in Hanoi, and COLD COFFEE (2015), a movie with an intimate yet nerve-racking atmosphere. CADAVRE EXQUIS is their fifth short film. Since 2002, they share their time between Paris, Hanoi and Saigon.

Filmography:
2018 - CADAVRE EXQUIS, short
2015 - COLD COFFEE
2012 - RED RIVER, SÔNG HÔNG
2009 - MEI LING
2005 - GOODBYE MISTER CHU

How long did it take to make your short? Was it difficult to get financing?
It took about two years to produce the movie (not including scenario writing and graphic design researches). Compared to live action films, animation films require a longer process. The search for funding was quite long and difficult, maybe because the film is quite experimental. We are aware that France is one of the countries that encourages the most the creation of short films, however there is more and more competition.

Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”?
Our films, although financed by European funds, tell stories set in Asia and more particularly in Vietnam, a country in which we live half time since 2002. This specificity gives us the feeling of belonging more to an international community rather than a European community, even if Europe is without a doubt the most active territory in the production and promotion of short films.

If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen?
Our influences are quite diverse and the directors we admire the most are Chabrol, Scorsese, Bong Joon-Ho or Michel Gondry, to name a few. But if we owned a theatre for one night, we would probably take this opportunity to screen only short films as we think they are not shown enough in theatres. INTOLERANCE by Phil Mulloy, PLANET Z by Momoko Seto, PALMIPEDARIUM by Jeremy Clapin, YAK BUTTER LAMP by Hu Wei, TANGO by Zbigniew Rybczyński, FLYING NANSEN by Igor Kovalyov, FAST FILM by Virgil Widrich and THE REFLECTION OF POWER by Mihai Grecu would problably be part of the program.

What is your next project?
We are working on a new short animated film titled THE AWAKENING OF THE INSECTS that takes place in Hong Kong. We also have a feature film project, called SUPER VINAMOTOR.