ÉCU FILM FESTIVAL, 2025
Camille Landraud
i only like you
Festival Screening
7 Parnassiens – Grande Salle
10, May 2025
Session 3 - 16:09
April, 24, 2025
She crosses her ex at her new work after moving back in with her sick father. But Margaret is not out and she gets conflicted by going back to her or hiding the truth.
Hi Camille, thank you for talking with The New Current. Are you looking forward to screening I ONLY like you at ÉCU this May?
Yes! I can't wait! It is my very first screening in festivals so it feels amazing and also very scary.
What does it mean to you to have I ONLY like you in the Student Category?
It's an amazing opportunity. For people to see my work, obviously but also for people to see what I see. I made that movie to show how freaked I can be as a queer person because I don't fit the norm, as many scared and unseen people. And I just wanted to give a piece that everything can be okay, even when we think we are not. I hope people can relate.
How important are festivals like ÉCU in champion and supporting independent films and filmmakers?
It is very important to support independent movies because besides not having the same amount of money put into these movies, we also don't dare to talk about the same subjects (we go deeper and stronger, we dare) and the quality of the scripts isn't the same. In blockbuster movies and big pictures, I found that today a lot of scripts have gone vague and flat. I believe independent movie dare to have a point of view, an image that connect with a part of the world.
Also, I believe there is more creativity and liberty of speech in these movies and that is why I do art. And that is priceless.
Can you tell me a little bit about how I ONLY like you came about, what was the inspiration behind your screenplay?
I remember being in the RER, going to school and wanting to read my book. It was a gay book and everything was quite explicit on the cover and I started to freak out. Though people were looking at me, they were gonna judge me for my choice in literature. Then when I dared to really look at people, I realised that nobody was caring about me, or my actions. It's not always the case but that made me realise that I was getting paranoid due to my fear. So I wanted to make a movie that would portrait these fears that you tend to have when you don't fit the norm, in many ways.
When writing a screenplay do you ever draw inspiration from your own lived experience?
Yes. From my fear of telling my parents, from my fear of people seeing me differently and fears that could escalate into something much bigger, that I lived and witnessed.
How important is the creative collaboration between you and your team once you start shooting?
It is everything. You can't do anything without them and of course, they cannot do anything without you. Well, technically they can but it's not your movie anymore. You need a lot of meetings ahead and a lot of talk on the set.
It's also what allows them to understand you but also but perfect the work. A director of photography that saw a shot I wouldn't have thought about but thanks to his creativity and the understanding of the project has, it's the perfect collab.
What was the hardest scene for you to film?
I think probably the scene that happens outside, where Margaret and Nancy reunite. It was a very hot day, some people dropped at the last minute, and the two actresses had to have a level of emotion quite intense and everything felt a little bit all over the place.
But they did wonderful, I was very proud of them for keeping this level of energy and of my team for ending this day where I asked a lot. But I can say I felt the pressure on my shoulders at the end of that day.
Looking back now is there anything you would have done differently on I ONLY like you?
Even more meetings ahead, even more preparation. Lots and lots move conversations and push away people with large egos. I would probably say no where sometimes I said yes and shouldn't have. But, it's like everything in life: you make mistakes, then you make sure at the next one you don't do them again.
Have you always had a passion for filmmaking?
I think my creativity expresses itself in many forms of art. I need to write, to draw, sing, mostly write but, when I started filmmaking there is something about it that scratches the right spot. It feels like all you wanna say, you get a chance to say it the way you want it; of course within what the production allows but, still, you get to see every aspect and give it what you brain fathom to make it real. It's like playing pretend when you were a kid but as adults. Nothing better.
What is it about film as a medium that interests you so much and who are the filmmakers that have inspired you?
It can transport you in a way that feels obsessive and that is so attractive. I was part of the generation that was born with TVs at home and I feel like an image can say thousand words. I grew up with Spieldberg, Soderbergh and Zemeckis, then falling in love with the Cohen Brothers and Paul Thomas Anderson. They made great movies creating great periods.
What has been the most valuable lessons you have taken from making I ONLY like you and how will these lessons guide you in future projects?
I would say connecting with your DoP and creating a trust is more valuable than anything. And also to never guess that the other person understands. We all have different brains and different ways to see life and it is vital for your project to have very detailed and precise conversations to get through everything, to me.
Sounds simple and obvious but it never is.
"....I am a hypersensitive person and it is often something that isn't shown and I wanted to give it to a character that is presumably tough and strong..."
What does I ONLY like you say about you and the way you see the world?
I guess that, if I did my job right, that the world is complicated, just in case it wasn't clear enough; that people suffer in silence none processed trauma and society pressure and I guess I wanted to show that. Also, I am a hypersensative person and it is often something that isn't shown and I wanted to give it to a character that is presumably tough and strong, to show how the world can be unbalanced sometimes and hard to process.
What has been the best advice you’ve been given by a fellow filmmaker?
I remember my teacher, for my previous movie, before I ONLY like you, trying to keep on staying on the project as it was very hard to work in the conditions I was in. I remember him telling me: “it is hard, and it's never gonna stop to be. But remember why you're doing this. That need, the urge to do what you love, for you. If it's there, you just have to hang on to that.”
That gave me the strength I needed and I carried that movie like never.
And finally, what is the message you would like your audiences to take from I ONLY like you?
I guess I would like them to see the inside of people and pay attention to who's around you. To touch and relate with the people who shared my fears, for anything it may concern. And I guess to openmind the ones that don't feel concern but should, for the their loved ones or just to be aware for the society we live in.