Two French women go to the USA: one for a work interview at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the other to travel and find love, or something like it. But life’s ups and downs, unconscious resistance, and the financial crisis will all conspire to put a spanner in the work.

 

I used reality to write the script. The starting point for writing the film’s story was an article in the press. It described the decision to have the works in the Detroit Institute of Arts valued in order to sell them and thus pay back a part of the city’s debt. I am very concerned about the place of Art, and young people and their future, and I relied on this real fact to write my fiction using the somewhat naïve character of Sidonie, who goes to Detroit for an interview in this museum, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). The plot was written before I went to the USA, and the screenplay was fuelled by my journey. 

 

I re-wrote a few scenes after meeting Francisco from Chicago, who had just lost his job, and also after meeting Lou, who was returning to live in Detroit. He represents the city’s new start. I invited various inhabitants to act in the film. The scenes were shot outside. That enabled me to juggle better with what reality was offering me: kids on bikes, local residents, cars passing with music blaring, and the risk of my equipment being stolen. 

 

I get two French women to converse with some Americans about the economic crisis situation. And I incorporate the Detroit environment in the story-telling. You never know if the scenes are off-the-cuff, written, or documentary, or whether they stem from fiction. One is always tacking between two genres. The directing was done with the environment: the mass of cars, wrecked houses, a theatre turned into a parking lot. It has become crucial to respect the image of the city and its inhabitants. There was no longer any question of showing ruins. What was involved was showing life, despite everything, by way of barbecues, concerts, the museum, and love. And also inviting the walls of Detroit to talk to us through a light choreographic plot. 

CG