boysick, 26min., France
Directed by Maël CARADEC
Milàn has a broken heart since his breakup with Gaëtan. In denial, Milàn makes one last attempt by following him on a dating app.
Get to know the filmmaker:
1. What motivated you to make this film?
Like many of us, I went through a breakup that left me a bit traumatized. I couldn’t move on, I thought about him all the time, I felt like I’d never find anyone else again. I even went too far into stalking, and let’s just say Grindr didn’t help me turn the page — quite the opposite. It’s horrible to know where the person you still love is, to see when they’re online, and to guess who they’re sleeping with. That problematic obsession and attachment issue is where the film was born from.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
The idea came to me during a feature-film writing workshop, but I’d say I really started writing BOYSICK in 2023. I wanted to shoot quickly, and although France has a wonderful funding system for creation, it’s still limited and very selective — you have to be patient and submit a lot of applications, keep pushing, reapply, sometimes wait 2 to 3 years before shooting a 20-minute film, and I think all of that dampens the desire to make a film. That’s why we tried for that funding, but in the end, together with the team, we decided to shoot without it because the desire to make this film was overflowing, and the wait was unbearable. We shot in August 2024 over 5 days, and post-production lasted several months, until around February 2025, due to budget constraints.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Two words: Obsession, Love. Or Love. Obsession.
4. What was the greatest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Honestly, financing this film was very complicated. No one could quite understand from the script how I was going to stage this story of heartbreak, especially with the on-screen messages. People found the script “too young,” “too simple,” and the character “annoying and passive.” Three weeks before shooting, we still didn’t know if we’d be able to film, the budget was so tight. I even lost an actor 3 days before the shoot started! And then, in the end, it worked out. That same script, which we decided to shoot anyway, became a small victory when the decision-makers came to the film’s premiere to congratulate me — and asked if it was really the script I had submitted!
5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development. Pre-Production. Production. Post-Production. Distribution.
What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?
I love shooting — I really feel like I’m bringing the film to life at that stage. Sure, it’s also where you can see what you imagined in your head slip away, and face disappointments over a set or a costume, but most of the time, the actors’ performances are better than anything I could have imagined, even during rehearsals. I also love editing — I’m an editor at heart, so I really enjoy that part too.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I had a bit of impostor syndrome — I’d always said I wanted to do editing since I was 13-14. I used to film videos with my neighbors and my little sister, we even had a green screen… And then, when I convinced my parents to let me go to film school, I reassured them by saying they shouldn’t worry, that I’d become an editor since there’s more work in that field. But at film school, I realized I loved editing… my own films! And that all the writing and shooting steps were things I was doing beforehand without realizing that was directing.
7. What film have you seen the most times in your life?
If you’d asked me my favorite film, I’d probably have said something else, but to be honest here, I think it’s TITANIC. I must have seen it between 30 and 35 times!
8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film?
I’d love to shoot with music artists as actors. I find they often have overflowing energy on stage or in their music videos, they’re very magnetic on camera, and you just want to film them. I’m thinking of artists like Troye Sivan, Conan Gray, or Lil Nas X.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
Nothing to say about FilmFreeway.
10. What is your favorite meal?
I’ll sound cliché, but cheese! So cheese pizza, cheese pasta… with a soft spot for goat cheese with honey.
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I have a third short film that I co-directed with Axelle Vinassac, which should come out late 2026/early 2027. SAD PRIDE GENERATION is a hybrid film between fiction and documentary, shot during the Paris Pride in a real-life setting but with actors. I’m also currently working on feature-film projects. I’ve finished the first draft of a feature film with Nicolas Guigou, my co-writer, and I took part in a writing workshop at Les Gobelins in Paris to develop a second feature-length fiction script set in Paris and New York across two different time periods.
