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La Fille Renne
The Measure of Drowning
TNC FILM INTERVIEW | 2026
Scottish Queer International Film Festival
The Measure of Drowning
Directors: Laure Giappiconi, Elisa Monteil, La Fille Renne
Images © The Measure of Drowning
Oct 23, 2026
We no longer recognised neither flow nor forest. We had been halved, quartered, decimated. We had been fragmented, shattered. The measure of drowning is an ecosexual fable about breathing better even when drowning, finding ways to resist the collapse of life and re-nourishing desires.
Hey La Fille Renne, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us ahead of the The Measure of Drowning screening at SQIFF. You had your International Premiere earlier in the year at Oslo/Fusion International Film Festival; what was that like?
Thank you for this invitation! Laure and Elisa were not available for this interview, so I will do my best to represent us.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to attend the International Premiere of the film in Oslo, but I'm very happy that this premiere was there. I know the team behind Oslo/Fusion and I completely agree with their values and political stances. They also chose the film to open the screening of Barbara Forever, directed by Brydie O'Connor, and it was an honor to be associated with the work of Barbara Hammer, an American experimental filmmaker known for being one of the pioneers of the lesbian film genre.
How does it feel to be in Scotland with The Measure of Drowning?
Personally, I have lived a love story with Scotland for a very long time. Outside our collective and queer stories, I make films about biodiversity and the relationships between humans and animals in northern Europe, especially in Scotland (I hope to shoot a new short in Shetland next year). So it's really special for me when our work can be seen here and recognized. And I truly love Glasgow and spending time in the necropolis.
The Measure of Drowning is having a really amazing festival run, has it been surprising to get the type of reaction you’ve been getting for your film?
We are really happy about this beginning. With an experimental short film, it's always difficult to know if it will resonate with festivals and be selected. So it was a relief to see the first selections.
Can you tell me a little bit about how The Measure of Drowning came about? What inspired this short film?
Initially, Elisa wanted to make a film about ecosex for a long time, and I wanted to make a film with this 35mm purple film and nature, so we thought it was a good match. We were inspired by what we are experiencing today: we are suffering from eco-anxiety, the world is burning, humanity is failing to protect our nature and we need to be united and make collective, so as not to sink.
When writing a screenplay like this, how self-reflecting are you, do you find yourself incorporating your lived experiences into your characters?
In our collective, our films are more or less always autofiction; they always start from ourselves and our emotions, from our desires and anxieties.
Had you always planned on acting in the film?
Yes! We organized a three-day residency in Elisa's countryside to scout filming locations, write a first draft of the script, and perform. It was intense! We knew there would be three of us during the residency, so three of us would be performing.
Being writers, directors, editors, and cast must have been challenging. How did you manage all these roles and not go mad?
Who said we don't go mad? And in addition to that, Elisa is the sound creator, I’m the cinematographer and the distributor (sort of).
Seriously, it’s really challenging and tiring, but we don’t have money to make films, so we don’t really have the choice. Sometimes it’s hard to have multiple jobs: as an example, by watching this film and seeing how my body moves, I can tell I wasn’t concentrating when performing. My mind was probably focused on the camera and the technical aspect. But, yes, I’ll do better next time.
But fortunately there are also positive aspects: we control everything in our films from A to Z and we learn A LOT by trying. Personally, I’m more comfortable with editing now, I can make a DCP (-ish) and I’m enjoying learning how to distribute short films.
How important is the creative collaboration between you all when working on The Measure of Drowning?
It’s everything. I love working with people and confronting ideas and point of views: this greatly enriches a film. It’s also a great way to share the joys and burdens of a big project.
As a writer/director/actor how flexible are you with your screenplay once you’re on set?
A large part of the writing process takes place after filming, based on what we were able to shoot and the footage we got. We shoot everything on 35mm and I process the rolls by myself at my workplace; so sometimes we have bad surprises with images and we have to be flexible. Also, performing can be delicate and it's important to allow room for changing our mind on the set and to perform what we want to do.
Looking back, is there anything you'd do differently on this film?
Be concentrate when I’m performing? I know it’s very personal but I find my posture and my face strange when I look at the camera (I had the sun in my eyes and I was focused on making the images), but maybe this adds another layer in the strangeness that might appeal to the public? I don't know.
Have you always had a passion for filmmaking and photography come from?
I started film photography +25 years ago and I have been doing it professionally for a long time now. I’m just in love with the endless possibilities of experimenting with that medium.
Then I started filmmaking 8 years ago with Laure and Elisa by shifting from a regular 35mm camera to a moving-image 35mm camera and since then I’m also experimenting with moving images, from the shot to chemical experiments on the cellulose.
"I started filmmaking 8 years ago and I’ve learned to make more polished images and to use more chemical experiments."
Coming from France, with its rich film history and legacy, how much does that influence your approach to your storytelling?
I don't watch French cinema but I think it’s probably a lot easier to make films and to have access to that in a country that has a very strong culture around this medium. We're very privileged.
Is there a film you’ve seen that’s had an impact on you?
I watch tons of films, it's hard to choose. But I’ll say “Northern Drift” by Alexis Destoop. I watched it at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2020 and it was a revelation. I thought "okay, we can also bring genre film codes into documentaries.”
And recently I was very moved by “The Outrun” by Nora Fingscheidt. Finding salvation by saving birds in Orkney, not bad, right?
How much has your filmmaking/photography style changed since you started out?
I started filmmaking 8 years ago and I’ve learned to make more polished images and to use more chemical experiments. And about how to tell stories, I hope I’m improving?
What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve discovered about yourself, and the stories you want to tell?
If you want to tell a story, especially a queer story, just do it. Nobody is going to do it for you. And don't be afraid of doing it wrong or making mistakes.
And finally, is there a message you would like your audience to take away from The Measure of Drowning?
The world is burning right now, we have to do anything we can to protect nature and to enjoy it. And our salvation lies in being together, in working collectively.