Kira Vygrivach photographer ©
Chloé is a short film about how fear and prejudice, even through the innocent eyes of a child, can have horrific consequences. Along with my co-producer, the award-winning Matthieu Moerlen, I went into production in Normandy in August of 2022. Post-production is now underway.
WHY THIS PROJECT IS IMPORTANT:
Chloé takes place during a harrowing and pivotal moment in history, not unlike the tense and uncertain state of our current world. It is about the effect isolation has on us, the tricks it plays on our minds. It is about this great, unseen force that terrorizes us even when we can’t see it. How do children grapple with this faceless enemy? How does growing up in such an uncertain world change the way they see themselves and those around them? How does it affect their growth and the games they choose to play? Chloé is an austere fable about how we as a human race deal with overwhelming unknowns.
This film also explores our tragic human instinct to destroy that which we do not understand. As an artist I still wrestle with how best to respond to this, especially in times such as these. I started making movies at the age of 10. I was a lonely, highly sensitive child and I took to filmmaking immediately. The overwhelming world only started making sense when I looked at it through the lens of a camera. That is still true for me today.
Chloé directly supports female filmmakers. My team's mission was to create more opportunities for female filmmakers in the industry. According to the Celluloid Ceiling report, women comprised 16% of directors working on the top 100 grossing films in 2020, up from 12% in 2019 and 4% in 2018. Each dollar donated to Chloé is a dollar spent on raising those numbers at the ground level.
MY VISUAL PLAN:
Chloé was shot in a gritty, grainy style, drawing inspiration from the depth and mystery of the Norman countryside, and also from the hypnotic works of Andrei Tarkovsky and Kelly Reichardt. The storm that almost prevented the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day) is present in the visual tone of the film: grey clouds heavy with rain give us the impression of a looming threat about to boil over. Summer heat contributing to the claustrophobic feel of the cottage with its blackout shades, dwindling candlelight and dark corners. Shadows are muddy; beams of light illuminate dust and smoke. Even the daylight feels cold and death-like. Through this heavy atmosphere, the camera’s eye captures a tinge of dark magic and folklore passed down by word of mouth. Chloé’s belief that her grandmother is a witch feels plausible in every frame. War creates strange silences and long periods of waiting. In these stretches of time, the recesses of the mind must be filled with distraction. The soil is fertile for growing fairytales.
OUR FILM’S BACKSTORY - HOW DID THIS GET MADE? :
Over the summer of 2021, I became concerned with the challenges that come along with launching an international production in a country I do not reside in. I didn’t know any filmmakers, crew, production houses, or companies in France. I knew I needed allies overseas. So…I bought a plane ticket and went to France!
I spent the month of August taking meetings and exploring the countryside in search of the perfect location. As I began to build up my French network, I witnessed how positively people responded to the story. Everyone was eager to help: producers, villagers, location owners, strangers I struck up conversations with, and even the owner of a furniture depot in Bayeux who offered to rent us antique furniture on the cheap (it helps that his grandfather was the same age as the protagonist of my script when the Germans occupied Normandy!). During my travels, tour guides became location scouts. Farmers became location managers. Strangers became friends. I am amazed at the outpouring of support I was met with in France. The community building around this film overseas is nothing short of inspiring.
This community became our incredible cast and crew. I am so proud of what we made together, and am looking forward to our next stage of post-production.
THE TEAM:
MADELINE STEPHENSON (WRITER/DIRECTOR):
When recommending Madeline Stephenson as director of the TV pilot Sheridan, her mentor Chris Goutman described her as “a filmmaker who will not settle for the easy answer, who will tirelessly investigate and dig into the material until she discovers the inevitable.” This might have something to do with her northeastern upbringing: Madeline was born and raised in the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. She became a filmmaker at the age of 10 after seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark and being struck by the adrenaline rush it gave her. Almost two decades later, she still considers each new film project to be a grand adventure.
Madeline studied film production at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she shot 10+ short films. Her film Terry: The Serious Actor screened all over the world, from the Coney Island Film Festival, New Filmmakers NY and LA, the Roxy Underground Film Festival, Bali’s Minikino Film Week, and Rockland Youth Film Festival, where it won an award for Best Silent Film and earned distribution on Seed & Spark’s streaming service. Madeline’s short film Dream Lover was the recipient of the Arkush Family Production Award. To supplement her education, she participates in Filmshop’s Sandbox and Jon Shear’s Directing Workshop. To deepen her directing work, she studies acting at the BGB Studio.
MATTHIEU MOERLEN (PRODUCER):
Matthieu Moerlen is a self-taught director, producer, and actor trained in Switzerland and Paris. He has been directing short films independently for the past ten years. Since 2015, his films have been supervised by the production company Mr Jadis, of which he is the manager and through which he produces narrative films, documentaries and commercials. Several of his shorts have won awards at international festivals.
CONNOR COOK (COMPOSER):
Connor Cook is a film composer/multi-instrumentalist living in Los Angeles. She grew up in North Carolina, playing Irish and bluegrass music on many folk instruments, accordion being primary. Connor got her BM in Music Theory and Composition from Appalachian State University, then attended Columbia College Chicago to get her MFA in Music Composition For the Screen, where she met her frequent co-composer Alexa L. Borden. Connor is a 3 time Sundance Fellow (2020, 2021, 2022) and a 2022 Sundance Institute/MacArthur Foundation Grantee. She was a 2019 Mentee for the AWFC Mentorship Program, and now serves on the Board of Directors. Connor is a 2023 Keychange US Innovator, and a 2022 & 2023 Mentor in the ScreenCraft Works Cross Border program. Connor is a 2024 VIFF Composer Filmmaker Accelerator Program Composing Fellow. Her music has been heard at film festivals all over the world, and on such platforms as Prime, NBC, Hallmark, Netflix, and more. Credits of note include Balloon Animal, Static Space, Never Not Yours, and Door No. 5. Connor teaches film composition at CSU Northridge.
CHLOÉ is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of CHLOÉ will be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
A still from a test shoot for Chloé. Shot and colored by Srushti Kalse.
A photograph taken in Normandy on a location scout.
A photograph taken in Normandy on a location scout.