‘Bottle George’ and Other Short Film Directors Break Down Filming

Variety hosted a panel for six short films, moderated by Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay, as part of the Variety Streaming Room series. Among the films featured on the panel were “Au Revoir Mon Monde” from co-directors Florian Maurice and Astrid Novais, “Bottle George” from director Daisuke Tsutsumi, “Edge of Space” from director Jean de Meuron, “I’m Not a Robot” from director Victoria Warmerdam and producer Trent, “The Masterpiece” from director Alex Lora and “The Last Ranger” from director Cindy Lee and writer David S. Lee.

Maurice shared how the inspiration for “Au Revoir Mon Monde” came from her own lived experiences. Listening to a song about the difficulties of relationships, the co-director reflected on the loss of her father at age six and was drawn to crafting a narrative centered around human grief.

“I wanted to make a story about grieving,” Maurice said. “Taking the theme of the end of the world was the more obvious subject…I wanted to make a comedy, something fun and goofy.”

She added how one of the challenges pertaining to the production of “Au Revoir Mon Monde” was making a film that did not appear like a traditional apocalyptic film. This, the filmmaker explained, is where the colors and humorous elements of the project evolved.

“We wanted something strange and funny, original, but yet very believable,” Novais said. “So that’s why we chose quite of a simple story, but with a different kind of tone, like comedy and drama at the end. We wanted to find a balance.”

Cindy and David Lee cited severe weather conditions in the Eastern Cape and COVID scares as some of the challenges around shooting “The Last Ranger.”

Having a crew that was comfortable working in an environment with wildlife was essential, they explained, in order to capture pivotal moments for the film’s narrative core.

“As hard and emotional as the film is, we have to end on a…