THE PROJECT

"La Chanson de la Mémoire"(The Songlines, English title) is a short film by award winning Australian filmmaker Elise Mc Leod, starring Slimane Dazi. This project was born from the association of Elise and Clarence, an Australian and an American in Paris, who met in an acting class, 15 years ago. After several years of friendship, a desire to work together finally came to fruition after bumping into each other at a chrismas party in 2018, Elise then looked in her drawers amongst her forgotten scripts for a film that they could work on together and, rediscovering the script for "La Chanson de la Mémoire”. Elise and Clarence both connected with the script, the story and the message and “Voila” their collaboration and the project was born!

PITCH

After a car accident, JFC, rock singer of Algerian origin, wakes up, lost in the French countryside and no one is around to help him; he has lost his memory and does not know who he is anymore. Yet in the village everyone seems to know him ... As he travels to get help JFC will have to reconstruct the puzzle of his life and who he is, through his encounters, he is able to discover his story and find his identity.

THE PRODUCTION TEAM

In 1997, Elise arrived in Paris to study cinema at Paris VIII. At that moment, Clarence also finished his studies of cinema and history in New Jersey. In 1997 Clarence began his film career working with the Philadelphia International Film Festival. In 2001, her degree in hand, Elise had her first experience as a third assistant director, on the feature film by Samantha Lang "L'IDOLE". It was in 2004 that Elise and Clarence met while taking an acting on camera class at the Bilingual Acting School in Paris. Since that time they each continue developing their skills and learning in the world of cinema and theater; Elise adapted and staged "LE CHAT DU RABBIN". Then she wrote "TOUTES COUPABLES" and it was performed in theatre, where it has played more than 200 times. In 2013, Clarence co-founded "The Big Funk Company" a theater company made up of a band of expatriate Americans in Paris. The company recently produced the play "Maya Une Voix" which just finished it’s run at Theatre Essaion in Paris. Elise began making commercials for the Web and then she began a career as a coach of actors. In 2018, Clarence self-produced his first feature film "Pau", which was released in theatre in April 2019. Each of them have over 20 years of experience between the two of them and have expanded their professional experience. It was is in December of 2018 that Clarence and Elise decide to make a film together, “La Chanson de la Mémoire”.

https://www.elisemcleod.com/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0572804/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2371645/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

DIRECTOR’S INTENTION

“La Chanson de la Mémoire » poses the eternal question of identity: "Who am I?"I wanted to answer this existential questioning from two points of view: That of oneself  AND Of others. Are we defined by the way others look at us or at what we really are?

JFC has momentarily lost his memory and finds himself in a place he does not know; he is therefore nowhere and nobody; and yet he is very real.

Originally being from a colonizing country, this question of the "who am I"  is a question I often ask myself even today, after twenty years in France.At the sound of my accent, I know that the French never consider me "one of them" and that I must gain the confidence and my place more than the others; while for Australians, I'm ironically referred to as the "Frenchie" ...Who am I then?

In Australia when, as a child when I learnt of how Australia was colonized, I remember feeling guilty for being white in a country that doesn’t belong to my ancestors, I had trouble understanding the idea of national identity. In my life, I have always felt this feeling of being "the other" and a stranger everywhere.

As a child, a book that was always on my bedside table was The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek. The funny and absurd story of an imaginary animal, the Bunyip (a kind of Australian Bigfoot) coming out one day from the pond and looking for what and who was he? To find the answer, he walks around and questions other animals, and everyone has their own opinion on what is the Bunyip. The essential question of this children's book is "who am I?" The animal(Bunyip) searches for something/someone like him, he searches for “who is he?” just like JFC in my film. JFC, too, asks others to tell him about himself. But the only truth lies in the music ...
In his quest for his identity, the encounters JFC makes are like the seven stages of mourning: denial, shock, anger, negotiation, sadness, resignation, acceptance and rebuilding ... He grieves for his identity and his ego.

The answer to this question is not simple, but one theory I have is, I think we resemble a lot of what we were when we were kids. There is something in our childhood that connects us to our identity and to who are we. This is how JFC "finds himself" by returning to the source, to this memory of his childhood, the song of his mother. It is an element that defines him, who is "him", it runs deep inside. His fame, his songs, his career ... all this reflects only a tiny part of JFC, while this song speaks about his essence, his true “MOI”. This story was also inspired by aboriginal songlines. Songlines are part of the belief system of the aboriginal, it's a path to across the land… to one’s oneself

As Rachid Taha said, “T’es qui toi?” "Who are you?"

CASTING

Slimane Dazi plays JFC

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3370158

JCF was born in Algeria, he arrived in France at the age of 18 years. A famous music producer discovered him at a party, hearing his angelic voice. He then takes JFC under his wing and quickly opens the door to success to him. JFC’s real name is Farid, but his producer convinced him to change it. He chose JFC for "Jean Francois Charles". Later, out of shame for changing his name, JFC tells people that it means "Jesus Fucking Christ". JFC has a good life as an musical artist, but he remains lonely, he's never built a family. His connection to his Algerian roots are missing but JFC does not want to show it too much. He always seeks to adapt to where he is, without really knowing that he is himself.

Justine Lacroixa plays Lucie 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9293128

Lucie has been living in the countryside for a long time, she feels very isolated. She spends a lot of time wandering aimlessly. She wants the world. She is a witty, humorous and ironic girl. Lucie would like to explore her dark side.

Arben Bajraktaraj plays The Foreign man

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0048076

Jean Pierre Boulot plays Jean Jacques

Sixty, still lives in the house of his parents. He’s never left his small village. Jean Pierre likes meeting people but also enjoys staying inside his own little world. The most important thing to him in life is his village, his safe zone.

Farida has lived in this village her whole life, her family is of Algerian origin but Farida has never been to Alegria, she barely knows the country. She is a mother, full of light and is a down-to-earth person, she lives a simple but happy life.

Other crucial characters to the film are music and the French countryside.

THE CREW

Director of Photography LAURENT CHALET

Laurent Chalet has acquired his professional experience on both fiction and documentary shoots. He has thus filmed the images of numerous award-winning documentaries in festivals and broadcasted on French(Canal +, ARTE or France Télévision) and international channels. He distinguished himself by being director of the photography on the hit film "The March of the Emperor", nominated for Best Photography at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) and crowned by the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006. Elise & Laurent collaborated on many music videos and commercials. Together they worked award-winning short film "Fish & Chicks" and the arthouse film "The city of the ladies" which was purchased by the MCA Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art for their permanent collection.

https://www.afcinema.com/_Laurent-Chalet_

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1026662

Composer ETIENNE GAUTHIER

Étienne Gauthier is a Paris based composer and artistic director of Bolid Record. After training at the Bill Evans Piano Academy and the American School of Modern Music, in 2002 Étienne Gauthier made his first album Extatik which received the regional support(FranceSacem) and the "Project Music" prize. He then collaborated for several years with the artist Lulu Borgia as an artistic director and composer. Together, they produced in 2009 an electro pop album, "Digital Affair". Étienne also has experience in other fields: Television, Laurent Delahousse's show "Un jour, un destin" on France 2. Advertising, he’s collaborated on Dior or Maysu, a commercial spot directed by Wong Kar-Wai. In fiction, we can find his music in the first short film of Alexis Michalik, “Au soil” and the parody “Zombin Laden” by Clément Deneux.

http://etienne-gauthier.com/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4730430

MOODBOARD

DOUCHY, FRANCE

MUSIC

The music is the spine of the film, the engine, the heart; inspired by the work and life of Rachid Taha. “Les belles journées de l’été” is an original pop song that made JFC famous JFC, Our composer, Etienne Gauthier, will compose the original song. Douce France is also a source of inspiration.

How your support will help
"The song of memory" was first written in 2012 for Rachid Taha, but it has been slow for Elise to find the right partners for this project. The money received from the Pozible campaign will allow this film to be realized with the freedom of creation that Elise and Clarence seek.
The funds will make it possible to cover costs of the composer, the editor, the singer, the actors, feed everybody, and finance material(camera,sound). We thank you wholeheartedly for your support!