Sarah Marx previously directed “Fatum,” a 2012 short about about a man struggling to reintegrate into society after serving time in jail. She later shot a documentary in a prison in Nanterre, France. “L’Enkas” is her feature debut.

“L’Enkas” will premiere at the 2018 Venice Film Festival on August 29.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

SM: “L’Enkas” is a movie where everything is hanging by a small thread. Without being either simplistic or moralistic, “L’Enkas” tells a tale of normal people that fall, get bruised, get back up, and contradict themselves.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

SM: “L’Enkas” fits into my previous work. The same questions are raised: inequality of chances, being locked up, and the failure of getting back in the world. I previously shot a short at Nanterre prison. I followed a daily theater workshop with eight prisoners for a year.

That work allowed me to free myself from the form to focus on the substance — to tell a story is firstly to focus on your characters’ stories. “L’Enkas” was born from that.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

SM: Quite obviously everyone will think what they want. What matters to me is to put the viewer in the main character Ulysse’s shoes, to immerse them in his life.

“L’Enkas” shows that human relationships are often way more complex than they might seem.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

SM: To never give up on anything. Ever. There is no bigger challenge. To shoot a movie is in itself a gigantic challenge, and a path full of pitfalls, including personal ones, financial, artistic, and even those linked to the weather.

The biggest challenge might be the decision to make the movie and go all the way. To do that, you have to be surrounded by the right people. That is the cornerstone and the key to achieving success.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made. 

SM: A movie is made of encounters, and the main one is with my producers. We walked in the same direction and supported each other, always keeping the movie in mind. I realize today that nothing could have stopped us.

From the beginning onwards, I thought the film would work with a small budget. It’s an independent movie. We obtained money from the State (Ile-de-France, CNC), and some private partners came in. My producers and I fought for this film to be born.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

SM: There is something quite natural about the path I took. I was a teenager in the 1990s, in the midst of the hip-hop culture. Very early on, it’s with a camera in hand that I found a way to express myself. At 19, I started to shoot pop culture videos and followed artists on tour, which led me to shoot video clips. Then I shot a short movie about fatality and social injustices, which was followed by a documentary.

In the end I’ve always tried to be a witness, and give people who are too rarely heard a voice. Making movies is in line with that.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

SM: The best advice was to work and to persist. Always be as close as possible to your characters to understand their truth.

Rather than bad advice I’ve mostly encountered bad examples. I’ve already heard someone tell me that it was necessary to be distant from your stories — that is, in my opinion, the opposite of what we’re meant to do.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

SM: Never abandon your convictions. It is often others that will throw the fact that you are a woman in your face. I’ve decided to make that a strength. I worked on “L’Enkas” with everything I am, and that includes my sensibility and my feminine outlook.

I’ve always worked with mixed teams. The female characters in my movie are strong and complex, and have their own personalities.

Before being a female director, I am a person with a story to tell, and that’s what defines you when you make a movie.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

SM: I really like Kathryn Bigelow’s films. [The content of her films isn’t limited to what people consider “women’s stories.”] I really admire how she represents contemporary American history.
Plus, she came in at the end of the 1980s, when women still didn’t have a seat at the table in Hollywood, and managed to make room for herself.

W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

SM: #MeToo allowed for people to speak on an issue that exists everywhere and goes beyond cinema. But like every time when speech is freed, there is some positive and negative, as well as some nonsense. It was mostly the opportunity to see where each society stands on women’s position in the industry. It allowed feminists and women that feel oppressed to be heard and to unveil issues. Some of these issues can be resolved quickly, but others will take a while.

A system doesn’t change from one day to the next — it’s often two steps ahead followed by one step back. There is always a time of hesitation after these sort of events, and everyone looks at each other to see whether there will be a follow-up or not.