Water Lillies debuted May 17 at the 2007
Cannes Film Festival, setting off a buzz that's already
crossing the Atlantic. The film is about the
burgeoning sexuality of 15-year-old girls, set against
the backdrop of synchronized swimming. The director,
27-year-old Celine Sciamma, had never even directed a
short before turning the screenplay she wrote for
school into a feature film. And while Water
Lillies is already getting the kind of
reviews independent filmmakers dream of, Sciamma is
the one making news.
She has just come
out publicly for the first time -- to The
Advocate.
"Hey, I'm gay," says Sciamma, sitting outdoors at
Cannes with a pack of Benson & Hedges pack
close at hand. "I don't know if I should say
this," she says laughing, then pauses
before deciding to go on. "I
always...resent the people who are gay, who could say it,
and they don't. So I'm not going to do that. I have to
be logical."
Although Cannes is the height of sophistication, the
question of sexuality still goes largely unasked. In
her well-spoken English Sciamma describes how the
media would dance around the issue, even after she had
made a film in which a teenage girl explores her sexuality.
"They would ask me, 'Who do you identify
[with]?' 'How autobiographical is
it?' And so, I kind of answered them. But
you're the first person to ask
me." Suddenly, she realizes what publication
I'm writing for. "I know The Advocate. I
didn't think it was THE
Advocate."
Sciamma sees herself primarily as a writer but clearly shows
a knack for filmmaking. She shows particular deftness
in the scene where our awkward heroine relieves her
friend's virginity as "a favor." Sciamma
crafts a tense and emotional moment as one girl
feels intense pangs of love while the other simply
endures the pain. It ends with a single, breathtaking
tear.
Celine Sciamma and the cast of Water Lillies
"We did [that scene] in the beginning of the
shooting, in the second week," recalls Sciamma.
"But we worked together for a month before
shooting. It wasn't rehearsal, I guess. It was more
getting them to be physical together, working on the
sensuality. So when they got to the set they were
really comfortable with one another.
"It was such a big deal for both of the actresses.
They're 15 years old; it's really
awkward to do this.But they were
really committed to the film. The tear just
appeared."
Water Lilies is a big deal for the single
Sciamma. "Making a movie makes you single,"
she quips with a laugh about her two-year journey. But
she is happy to have scored with a story that places
young women front and center; adults are virtually
nonexistent in the film, and boys are kept almost
entirely in the background.
"So whoever you are, you have to identify with a
15-year-old girl," she explains. "I
wanted everybody in the audience--when [the two girls]
kiss--I wanted everybody to want the kiss to
happen.
"And also I wanted to contribute. There's
really a lack of homosexual representation [in the
movies], and I've suffered from this. Stories can
really fulfill the lack of love or experience you can have
when you're young."
