It's no wonder that 31-year-old director Louise Courvoisier is in a radiant mood when TT meets her.
It was so totally unexpected. What I really wanted was for the people I'm telling about to see it.
She grew up in the Jura region in eastern France, near the border with Switzerland. Her parents are musicians who became farmers. The young Louise wanted to get away, which led to her eventually deciding to become a film director. After two short films, she wrote the script for "Lyckans ost", which was set in her old hometown.
Competing for the best cheese
The main character is 18-year-old Totone, who after his father's death must take care of both the farm and his little sister. To make ends meet, he enters the competition to make the year's best comté cheese.
It wasn't easy to get the money, who was interested in a film about how to make cheese, but in the end I managed to convince the right people to invest in it, says Louise Courvoisier.
I involved the whole area in the filming, from the team to the actors. All of the latter are amateurs. The little sister, for example, comes from the family that lives next door to my parents.
Totone is played by Clément Faveau, who attended an agricultural university. But convincing him was not easy.
I searched for actors in the area, at parties, at car races. I saw Clément when he was standing with his friends and there was something in the way they interacted that told me he could be right.
Didn't want to
But Faveau was not interested.
I nagged and he eventually said okay, he could audition for a minor role. Later, he said "maybe I can do a bit more", and finally, when I brought up the lead role, he said "okay then".
He has received incredibly good reviews, but continuing as an actor is not a priority for him. He didn't attend the César awards, there was too much to do on the farm.
The young neighbor woman that Totone meets and starts a relationship with is played by Maiwene Barthelemy. She is a poultry farmer.
When I was going to test if there was any chemistry between them, they came to my parents' farm and took care of chickens together. They did it so well that I saw that this would work.
In the film, the audience gets to follow how a large comté is made.
Everything that happens there is completely genuine. And I think I could probably help make a comté myself.
Corrected: An earlier version contained an incorrect name in a photo caption.
Age: 31 years.
Lives: In Lyon.
Occupation: Screenwriter, director.
Current with: The debut feature film "Lyckans ost" which has its Swedish cinema premiere on 14/3.
