EIFF Diary: Day 5. Meeting Dominic Allan and Jean Marc Calvet.
Day 5 already. It’s 12pm. I wake up with a worsened cough and regretting the numerous cocktails of the night before. I also start to feel the exhausting effects of the marathon paced festival. Not a good way to start the day. I have an interview to attend in the afternoon, so I’d better freshen up.
It’s 14.15 and I meet photographer Simon Chong who will be taking photographs of my interview with the director of “CALVET”, Dominic Allan, and its protagonist, the man, Jean Marc Calvet himself. This is where my day takes a turn and starts becoming interesting.
We are meeting them at the Balcony room at Teviot Row House. Simon and I enter the room where Jean Marc and Dominic welcome us with an affable and friendly posture. I can’t believe I’m meeting them. I saw the movie a couple of days ago and I was really moved by it. I was mesmerized by the personality and presence of Jean Marc, who in person is as charming and charismatic as in the film.
“CALVET” is an extraordinary film about an extraordinary life. The life of Jean Marc Calvet, a man who lived many lives. He was an abused street kid, a foreign legionnaire, a vice cop, a professional bodyguard and an underground thug. A critical moment in his life was when he accepted a bodyguard job in Miami. He had to leave everything behind. He left a wife and a son. “See you next Saturday” were the last words Calvet said to his son before he disappeared.
But Miami wasn’t for him, he soon ran away with “stolen” dirty money under his arms and hid in Costa Rica. He locked himself in a house where he spent 9 months of self destruction, paranoia, hallucinations and suicidal thoughts until he discovered a can of industrial paint that saved his life and opened his eyes forever.
Click here to listen to an excerpt from the interview -> From self-destruction to painting – Jean Marc Calvet (Artist)
Calvet ended up becoming a successful artist with exhibitions in New York. His work sells for thousands of dollars. But haunted by remorse he sets himself a goal. He will go back to France and find the 6 year old he left behind 12 years ago.
This is a story of redemption that shows the magnificent power of art and the possibility of change and transformation in a moment of total crisis. It is through art that Jean Marc changed and made peace with his past and with himself. But it’s also the film itself that changed him, as he used it as a a way of confession and therapy. “The movie changed my life the same way painting changed my life”.
Click here to listen to an excerpt from the interview -> Films have to inspire people – Dominic Allan (Director)
I spend a very enjoyable half an hour talking to Dominic about the film-making process and talking to Jean Marc about his participation in the film and his art. I tell them how much I liked the film. It’s an inspiring film with an important message. I congratulate them for the magnificent work and wish them great success.
My next stop: Filmhouse. It’s 19.30 and I’m watching a Korean film called “Bleak night”. I try hard to contain my cough and keep my eyes open until finally tiredness defeats me. I am asleep for most of the screening. I come out of the theatre a little confused. For what I can recall it is two hours of teenagers arguing. Now, did I really meet Calvet or was it all just a dream?
You can listen to the entire uncut conversation with Jean Marc Calvet and Dominic Allan in the upcoming episode of our Trisickle Radio podcast, The Movie Wave.
Find out more about CALVET at the Official Website www.calvetmovie.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/calvetmovie
