PAPILLON
Hybrid / 2024 / DCP / 5.1 / 18’
A bear is hunted and caged. But he escapes again and again. He is loved as much as he is feared. A hybrid of wilderness and projection. The film PAPILLON follows his trail. And also becomes a hybrid. Of documentary and myth.
With Ilaria Di Carlo, Vincenzo Tosetto, Stefano Marchel and many others.
Direction & Montage: Francesca Bertin
Script: Max Sänger
Camera & Color correction: Leonhard Kaufmann
Sound recording: Jakob Spengemann
Sound Design & Mix: Mario Schöning
Scenography: Ilaria Di Carlo
Costume design: Nina Divitschek
Dramaturgy: Birgit Glombitza
Line Producer: Luca Insinga
Driver: Malte Rollbüher
Producers: Karsten Krause, Frank Scheuffele, Julia Cöllen
Production: Fünferfilm
Co-production: Francesca Bertin
Funded by MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, BKM
The M49/Papillon became a symbol of the dichotomies between the periphery and the big cities, between the institutions and the local population, and between the need to protect wild animals and the hunters' fear of losing their role. The search for the bear in the scarred Vaia forest thus reflects the relationship between human and non-human species, a question of possible coexistence in a confined space.
"Papillon" is a projection, a wishful thinking. It is the omnipresent ghost in the forest, whose existence is only visible through night vision cameras. Its impermanence is what makes M49 so "cinematic". He defies death to be free. He embodies the image of the villain and that of the romantic hero. The film invites viewers to leave the anthropocentric perspective and to look at our surroundings with different eyes. The exploration of the landscape through the surveillance camera reflects the lack of space and the omnipresence of humans. It is a call for change: in the century of biodiversity loss this is more necessary than ever.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Premiere: Nordische Kurzfilmtage Lübeck
![]()
![]()
A bear is hunted and caged. But he escapes again and again. He is loved as much as he is feared. A hybrid of wilderness and projection. The film PAPILLON follows his trail. And also becomes a hybrid. Of documentary and myth.
With Ilaria Di Carlo, Vincenzo Tosetto, Stefano Marchel and many others.
Direction & Montage: Francesca Bertin
Script: Max Sänger
Camera & Color correction: Leonhard Kaufmann
Sound recording: Jakob Spengemann
Sound Design & Mix: Mario Schöning
Scenography: Ilaria Di Carlo
Costume design: Nina Divitschek
Dramaturgy: Birgit Glombitza
Line Producer: Luca Insinga
Driver: Malte Rollbüher
Producers: Karsten Krause, Frank Scheuffele, Julia Cöllen
Production: Fünferfilm
Co-production: Francesca Bertin
Funded by MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, BKM
The M49/Papillon became a symbol of the dichotomies between the periphery and the big cities, between the institutions and the local population, and between the need to protect wild animals and the hunters' fear of losing their role. The search for the bear in the scarred Vaia forest thus reflects the relationship between human and non-human species, a question of possible coexistence in a confined space.
"Papillon" is a projection, a wishful thinking. It is the omnipresent ghost in the forest, whose existence is only visible through night vision cameras. Its impermanence is what makes M49 so "cinematic". He defies death to be free. He embodies the image of the villain and that of the romantic hero. The film invites viewers to leave the anthropocentric perspective and to look at our surroundings with different eyes. The exploration of the landscape through the surveillance camera reflects the lack of space and the omnipresence of humans. It is a call for change: in the century of biodiversity loss this is more necessary than ever.
Premiere: Nordische Kurzfilmtage Lübeck
