In 2023, she directed her first film, "In Pursuit of the Absolute," a 27-minute documentary short that won numerous awards in France and internationally.
She holds a Master's degree from the Sorbonne University. Her Master's thesis focused on « The heroines' quest for the absolute in Terrence Malick's films ».
She has also worked as a production assistant (Synecdoche Films, Lilies Films) and as an assistant director.
Clara Mirabel is also a ballet and contemporary dancer. She combines her passion for dance with cinema.
INTERVIEW
What was your first impression when you get an information that your film had won at our festival? How did you celebrate this successful event?
I was deeply honored to receive this award from the jury. I first shared the news with my family, and then with the film crew. We were all very happy and grateful.
Could you describe the process of creating your film and what challenges you had to overcome during the shooting?
The original idea for the parallel between the shepherd and the dancer comes from a philosophical book by Nietzsche that was a real revelation to me when I discovered it a few years ago, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883). Nietzsche's Zarathustra is a dancer and lives in the mountains. He teaches us about freedom, solitude, passion, aspiration towards the absolute, truth, and transcendence, which are the main themes of my film In Pursuit of the Absolute.
The film was shot in two parts. We first filmed the mountain section in the Pyrenees with shepherd François Cacheux and other farmers. Then, we shot in another wild location in the south of France, in the Cévennes near the river, with contemporary dancer and choreographer Jérémy Alberge.
The biggest challenge we faced was undoubtedly the physical difficulty of filming in the mountains. We had large rucksacks and heavy film equipment. Fortunately, the shepherds were very helpful as we had to climb some very steep and difficult places with the camera. I was also fortunate to work with a director of photography whose artistic vision matched my own, resulting in some extraordinary images.
What message is your film trying to convey to the audience?
Rather than conveying a specific message, I would say the film invites viewers to ask themselves essential questions about life.
Through these two seemingly different worlds of the shepherd and the dancer, I'm trying to share what they both experience so profoundly within themselves. Dance gives you access to "something transcendent, something you can't control," says Jérémy Alberge in the film. "I guess that's what divine means for me, it's not necessarily religious, but impalpable. It just happens, and puts you into another state, outside yourself," adds Jérémy Alberge. Shepherd François Cacheux also lives a strong inner life, between suffering and ecstasy: "Every emotion is heightened. Everything's intense in every way, either it's pain or joy." Living outside the norm, choosing a different path, can be immensely difficult but it allows you to reach the highest summits, to be free, and to experience unique and magical sensations.
Which moment in your film is personally the most significant for you and why?
For me, the end of the film is the most significant moment. This is the seventh and final chapter. The dancer's beautiful words, combined with the images, become a fine metaphor for the quest for the absolute that drives us as human beings. We hear Vivaldi's sublime guitar melody, see the herd forming a unit, the river flowing, and we rise towards the sky, remembering the dancer's words about the birds: "Even though we're a bit more restrained, chained to the earth, dancing could be a form of hope or... a fantasy, the desire to fly, like some kind of utopia, wanting to take off but never really able to leave the ground. »
Do you think your film can influence or inspire viewers?
Yes, I hope so! The people in the film are incredibly inspiring. They share very intimate and personal aspects of their lives with such generosity. I truly admire them.
I'm reminded of the very apt words in Andrey Tarkovsky's Sculpting in Time, in which he emphasizes his belief that art must carry man's craving for the ideal, must be an expression of his reaching out towards it, that art must give man hope and faith.
If you had to describe your film with just one adjective, what would it be?
