Z365" or "Festival all year round" is the new strategic point of the Festival in which converge investigation, accompaniment and development of new talents (Ikusmira Berriak, Nest); training and cinematic knowledge transfer (Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, Zinemaldia + Plus, Filmmakers' dialogue); and investigation, disclosure and cinematic thought (Z70 project, Thought and Discussion and Research and publications).
Winter boy tells the story of 17-year-old Lucas whose teenage world is suddenly shattered by the death of his father. The director, Cristophe Honoré, accompanied by his actors Paul Kircher, Vincent Lacoste and Juliette Binoche, answered questions about his film at a press conference they gave yesterday after the screening of the film in the Official Section.
The film addresses how each of the main characters deals with grief and loneliness. Honoré acknowledged that it had been especially challenging to get inside the head of a teenager, as it had been a long time since he was 17, and that he had aimed to tell the story in a rather immature way that reflected the perspective of a teenager in both a narrative and a formal sense. This is not the first time that Juliette Binoche has played a grieving widow and she didn’t hesitate to join the project when Honoré got in touch with her, but on this occasion she admitted that she had needed to make a superhuman effort as in the presence of children her grief intensified as it had to be kept hidden.