“I am unable to delegate, so I directed the entire series”

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Olivier Assayas directed his first American series: “Irma Vep”, an adaptation of his own 1996 film for the famous American channel HBO (“the Sopranos”, “Sur Ecoute”). A funny and light series, love letter to cinema, his first and also his last series.

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Olivier Assayas, director fed with Cinema notebooks, made in 1996 Irma Vepa film with Maggie Cheung which told behind the scenes of the filming of the remake of the silent film The vampires by Louis Feuillade. He chose to resume this work in the form of a series with a cast of choice: Alice Vikander in the role of the star, Vincent Lacoste as an unbearable actor, Jeanne Balibar as an overwhelmed costume designer and Vincent Macaigne as a neurotic director.

Olivier Assayas wanted to take up this story by feeding it: “This film carried within it questions about cinema, about what cinema is. But obviously, the answers I give today are no longer the same. We are at a time when we questions about the nature of cinema, about what is cinema, what is not? Is cinema, if it is not in theatres, no longer cinema? We are a little lost today with the new funding which allows other films to be made. Me, I had the feeling of taking what was good to take, that is to say the open door to bigger funding for longer films.”

The last episodes are being finished. A tough task for the director: “It’s crazy work. Writing eight hours of film, preparing them, directing them, editing them. I can’t delegate, so I directed the entire series, I wrote the entire series, I’m getting out of it a bit on the kneecaps. It’s a long, overwhelming job, with a very heavy responsibility. And so if you do this once, I don’t think you’re doing it twice. That’s why that I put everything in.” concludes Olivier Assayas.

The series is released worldwide on HBO on Monday June 6 and in France on OCS.


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