The story of Josep Bartolí was rather unknown, as is the framework in which it took place, in particular these internment camps in France where many enemies of the regime of General Franco were found in Spain. How did the idea for this film come about?
About ten years ago, when I was invited to a book fair, I stumbled across a book written by Georges Bartolí, Josep’s nephew. I was immediately taken in by the design on the cover, then discovered the other designs inside. Everything related to the Spanish Civil War has always interested me. Looking at these drawings so strong, so powerful, I immediately wanted to immerse myself in this universe. I saw in this romantic and fabulous story a film project.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY AZ FILMS
Scene from Josep, animated feature film directed by cartoonist Aurel
Initially, you are a press cartoonist. Your drawings have also been published in The world and The chained Duck. You are also recognized thanks to your documentary comics, in particular Clandestino and Woodwork. What led you to cinema?
This is part of a continuity. It’s like a new door opening which I hope won’t close with Josep. My approach to drawing is very journalistic, especially since I have always been passionate about drawn reportage. This practice is also not very widespread now, not enough I would say. In my eyes, journalism is practiced in the field, with a notebook and a pencil. By definition, a designer works alone. It’s the opposite in cinema, but I was very well surrounded by people who understood the process and the intention.
Josep echoes a less well-known chapter in the history of France, that where, at the Spanish border in 1939, refugees were taken to camps where they had to survive in often difficult and inhuman conditions. Josep, however, befriends a French gendarme who is more conciliatory than the others. It is also through the latter that we will learn the history of Josep.
The camps in the south of France obviously had nothing to do with the Nazi camps, but the fact remains that these places were totally inhuman and that, even if there was no question of exterminating anyone, many refugees died of illness. The survivors, although many, did not tell their children about it, because a kind of taboo surrounded all that. However, the following generations have sought to know, even if memory is silent and things are little said. And then, the issues related to migration, to the poor reception given to people fleeing poverty and war, have not changed for 80 years. That said, the screenwriter, Jean-Louis Milesi, and I were not in an activist approach.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIFRANCE
With Josep, the designer Aurel signs his very first feature film.
Being a designer yourself, with a style of your own, was it easy to blend into the world of another artist? Did the idea of making this feature film other than in animation cross your mind?
From the start, I said to myself very clearly that I wanted first to pay tribute to the drawings of Josep Bartolí, to make the artist known. To do this, I wanted to tell his story in drawings. As our universes are very distinct and our features cannot be confused, the two could therefore coexist on the screen. Rather, the biggest challenge was to make the film that I wanted to make, in my own way, without too many concessions, even if it always has to be made for budgetary reasons and issues related to the industry itself. animation. To my surprise, I didn’t have to do much.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY AZ FILMS
In Josep, film by Aurel, actor Sergi López lends his voice to cartoonist Josep Bartolí.
In your opinion, what is the reason for this effervescence that we have seen in the field of animated feature films over the past few years? The offer is now abundant and very diversified …
I would tend to draw a parallel with what happened in comics during the 1990s, at least in Europe. We then went from fairly classic Franco-Belgian comics – considered a somewhat adolescent art – to a literary form in its own right. Journalistic surveys, history, novels, graphic novels, in short, all kinds of styles are now being published in this form. 30 years ago, many people had never read a comic book and had no intention of reading one. Today everyone has at least one in their library.
What does the drawing allow you to do more specifically?
It allows me to tell a lot of things with a freedom that we could not have otherwise. Making this film allowed me to understand what drawing really is. Previously, I drew because it was my way of expressing myself, my way of being in the world, my work, but I did not necessarily wonder about the ins and outs of what I practice on a daily basis. The cinema allowed me to take this step back. For a next project, I want to push the reflection even further. What does it mean to draw?
Josep hits theaters on December 10.