The name RKSS may not be known to the general Quebec public, but you only have to attend a screening of one of their films, short or long, at Fantasia to understand that they have fervent admirers.
“No one is a prophet in their own country,” supposes Yoann-Karl Whissell, Anouk’s older brother. “I guess it’s normal, we have our audience, our crowd that follows us everywhere. Strangely enough, we are better known abroad. In Spain or Germany, we sign autographs at the airport. In Quebec, we have fans who are very passionate about our work, friends, who follow everything we do, in all our crazy things, and we are very grateful for that.”
We Are Zombies (We the zombiesin French), horror comedy adapted from the comic book series by Jerry Frissen and Guy Davis, and Wake Up, slasher survivalist written by Alberto Marini, mark a turning point in the trio’s career. Exit the nostalgia of the 1980s!
« Turbo Kid est très différent de Summer of 84 ; ces deux-là sont très différents de We Are Zombies, qui est très différent de Wake Up. C’était important pour nous de ne pas nous retrouver dans une boîte. C’est sûr qu’on veut continuer à faire du film de genre, mais on ne veut pas être pris dans la boîte de la nostalgie. C’était super important que nos prochains projets s’en éloignent le plus possible. Nous, on veut avoir du plaisir, raconter toutes sortes d’histoires, mais on veut essayer des choses, s’amuser avec le médium. J’aimerais ça faire un film de kung-fu, un creature feature [film de monstre]a pure comedy where there would be no horror at all,” says Yoann-Karl Whissell.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Director and screenwriter François Simard
“After our first two films, we didn’t want to be called the 80’s kidsremembers François Simard, who studied traditional cartooning with Anouk Whissell. We Are Zombies marks a return to our sources, to our humor that we could see in our short films and Turbo Kid ; it was good to come back to this kind of film. When we read the comic strip, we found the message interesting, intelligent. In Wake Upwhich is more serious, we come back more to horror. It is thanks to Summer of 84who made me nervous because he was more serious than Turbo Kidthat we realized that we could do something else, move towards drama.
Transmit the message
As much in We Are Zombieswhere the undead, although harmless, are treated as second-class citizens, than in Wake Upwhere young activists denounce deforestation by storming a large furniture store, the filmmakers seem to express their social concerns and their anxiety about the future. Are the Roadkill Superstars eco-anxious?
“Yes, we are eco-anxious!” exclaims Yoann-Karl Whissell. “I have young children, what are we leaving them for the future? It’s terrifying! It’s super important for us to have a message and the best way for us to get it across is to entertain people.”
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Director and screenwriter Yoann-Karl Whissell
If people enjoy watching the movie, laugh, feel scared, depending on the movie, the message can surface in the conversation following the movie. Our goal is to provoke discussions, not to preach.
Yoann-Karl Whissell
“Zombie movies have often had a social message,” notes François Simard. “This story took the concept further by playing with the codes of the genre. In this whole story, the important thing is the friendship between these three… a bit like the rest of us!”
In fact, in We Are Zombieswe find an endearing trio of zombie traffickers, Karl Neard (Alexandre Nachi), his half-sister Maggie (Megan Peta Hill) and his best friend Freddy Mercks (Derek Johns), who loves wrestling like Yoann-Karl Whissell.
“The fact of making our characters more human, more endearing and less abrasive than in the comics, of infusing them with as much of our personalities, I think we did it unconsciously. It’s once we watch the film and we hear it that we have no choice but to recognize ourselves, to admit it to ourselves,” says Anouk Whissell.
“We paid great attention to the source material, we wanted fans of the comic to be happy with the result, but we also made it our own and put a lot of ourselves into it. Even if it’s our most crazy film, it’s our most personal film,” confirms François Simard.
In We Are Zombieswe find the photo of Jean-Philippe Bernier, whom the collective considers as the fourth member of RKSS and who signs the music with Jean-Nicolas Leupi within Matos, “the soul of our films”, as well as the expertise of Rémy Couture, who gave life to the giant creature designed by Guy Davis, collaborator of Guillermo del Toro.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Director and screenwriter Anouk Whissell
It was magical to see that. We write that there is a giant creature with six arms and then we see it arrive on the set. It’s just at that moment, when it’s tangible, that we can believe it. It’s like Christmas!
Anouk Whissell
Co-production with Spain, France and Canada requires that the three writer-directors separate from their faithful accomplices and work with composer Arnaud Batalier and director of photography Léo Hinstin for Wake Up. If this Studio Canal production propels the trio into the major leagues, it must be remembered that RKSS has not yet filmed in French in Quebec.
“For years, we tried to make genre films in French. We had no choice but to turn to English to succeed. We don’t regret it because internationally, it worked very well. If we had the chance to make a film in French, we would do it. Institutions, distributors and producers should take risks to do completely off-the-wall stuff, that would diversify local cinema. Fantasia proves it: there is an audience for that,” concludes François Simard.
We Are Zombies (We the zombies in French) opens on Wednesday. A special screening will take place this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Cinéma du Parc, in the presence of the film’s directors and actors.
Wake Up will be screened on August 3, at 9:45 p.m., at the SGWU Graduate Auditorium (Hall Theater), Fantasia, with the directors in attendance.
Anouk Whissell will be one of the panelists ofHer Horror Legacy: A Discussion About Women Who Direct Horror FilmsJuly 27, 4 p.m., York Amphitheatre, Fantasia (free admission).