Cannes Film Festival. Julia Ducournau: "I don't really feel like I'm in the running for the Palme d'Or"

You're returning to the Cannes Film Festival, vying for a second Palme d'Or, after the triumph of Titane . What's your state of mind regarding this new competition?

"I'm here first with a new film, and I'm freaking out! I don't really feel like I'm in the running for the Palme d'Or, just the pressure of presenting my work ."

Alpha addresses AIDS, although the word is never spoken. How has this disease shaped your outlook?

"What mattered was the way society treated the sick at the time: ostracism , mistreatment, very widespread and traumatic. This dark period in our history remains an unfinished mourning. The film shows how the disease was instrumentalized to reflect this collective fear."

You speak of an unfinished mourning. How was your generation marked by this period of the 90s, and how is this reflected in Alpha ?

“The film explores transgenerational trauma, where the taboo surrounding brutal deaths perpetuates a cycle of fear. As long as we don't accept the past and the mirror it holds up to society, we can't restore dignity to victims or avoid repeating mistakes. Our generation carries post-traumatic stress, where fear has replaced sexual liberation. In the 1990s, sex was synonymous with danger, the other was a threat. This created a colossal moral and human backlash, an anger that is still palpable.”

The film also seems to take a look at today's society, where fear continues to dominate. Was it a conscious intention to draw this parallel between the AIDS era and today?

“Yes, absolutely. I wrote this film earlier than planned, driven by a feeling of bewilderment in the face of today's world, where we distract ourselves to avoid facing crises. Returning to that time allowed me to "cathartize" the fear of today, but which I have felt since that period. It is pure fiction, but also an outlet.”

The patients in your film freeze to become beautiful marble statues. Is this a way of paying tribute to the victims of that era?

"Yes, that's right. The idea comes from the "recumbent figure syndrome," a psychoanalytic theory in which the trauma of a brutal death is transmitted to a descendant, who relives its symptoms. This cinematic and sacred image of the recumbent figure allowed me to make beautiful the dead, considered profane at the time."

Why did you choose a 13-year-old heroine, a pivotal age, to carry this story?

"This transitional age is fascinating, between childhood and adulthood, where the body and tastes are chaotic. It's a physical and emotional festival, where one is neither child nor adult, but treated as one or the other. It fits my cinema, and I love characters of this age for their vulnerability and their energy."

Your scenes immerse the viewer in a visceral experience. How did you create these very physical moments?

“Everything is seen from inside the body and head of Alpha, the main character. The scenes transcribe her immediate feelings, such as dizziness or panic, without showing the fear from the outside. Even the flashbacks, without Alpha on screen, can be an idealized reconstruction of what she imagines from the past, with a dreamlike aesthetic, like the empty hospital corridor.”

Tahar Rahim's physical transformation , haggard and emaciated, is striking. How did you work with him to achieve this extreme thinness?

"The script was clear: a drug addict can't weigh 90 kilos. Tahar understood this from the moment he read it and committed himself fully, receiving medical support to help him lose weight safely. We also used low-angle lighting to accentuate his thinness, despite his remaining muscle. His performance was intense, but I was worried about him, especially during the physical scenes."