Experiencing Interruptions?

CORAL

When she wakes up from an accident, Carol doesn't remember a thing, apart from a strange figure in the dark. For 120 seconds, her heart stoped.
With the help of her caregiver James, she's going to learn how to question herself. In order to find out where she went and why she came back, and also to uncover the truth of what happened.

  • Louisa Pili
    Director
    Nox
  • Louisa Pili
    Writer
    Nox
  • Théo Ronceray
    Writer
  • Louisa Pili
    Producer
    Nox
  • Nina Aboutajedyne
    Key Cast
    "Carol"
  • Yuming Hey
    Key Cast
    "James"
  • Naomi Amarger
    Cinematography
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    drama, fantastic, neardeathexperience
  • Runtime:
    22 minutes 11 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 22, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    France
  • Country of Filming:
    France
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Naomi Amarger
  • Naomi Amarger
    Paris
    France
    October 30, 2021
    French Crew Screening
Distribution Information
  • Naomi Amarger
Director Biography - Louisa Pili

Louisa has always been passionate about music and film, starting with having a tantrum at age 6 because she wanted a violin. She was given a viola instead.
Shortly after at age 8 she took a chance and auditioned for a leading role in Safy Nebbou's movie "Le Cou De La Girafe" and landed the part starring as Matilde. She won Best Lead Role at the Cairo International Film Festival at age 9.
She followed this up by performing and touring on stage in "Le Malade Imaginaire" for La Comedie Française and doing voiceover work for several animated movies including the french dub of "Despicable Me" and the excellent collection of short stories "Fears Of The Dark".
During this time she started learning the guitar. Fast forward to 2011, at age 15, she moved (ran away more like...) to London and joined the psychedelic rock band Black Market Karma.
During this time she works at Amnesty International and uses all her paid leave to tourEurope extensively with the band. She buys an old Nikon to film video clips from the band and document tour life.

After seven years across the Channel, Lou headed back to Paris with the intention of getting back into to acting. By 2017 she had landed two roles in major Hollywood productions; "Papillion", a remake of the 70's Steve McQueen classic and "The 15:17 To Paris" directed by Clint Eastwood.

During the summer of 2017, she wrote her first script for upcoming feature film Men Don't Cry with Jason Elbaz, which approaches masculine vulnerability in an unusual and daring way. She is also currently working on an adaptation of an animated movie into a theater production.
​
In September 2019, she started Luc Besson's directing course at the Ecole de la Cité in Paris. From crafty to assistant director, from grip to electrician, she does absolutely every single job she can on any film she can.
She directs 7 short films during her time at the school, as well as two additional ones, this time, produced: Coral, and NOX.

During the whole time, she documented everything through Photography, learning to develop her own work with 35mm along the way.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Initially, CORAL was a cinema school assignment. We had to craft a story from true events.
My best friend and soul sister Julie Boulanger inspired the part of Carol.
With Theo Ronceray, we started working on the script of what we thought would be a no budget film.
But as we carried on, I went knocking on Alien Production's door and showed them the script, and we decided to produce it properly.
At that point I had already undertook the casting, and straight away, I knew Nina and Yuming were perfect for the film. I was lucky enough to get the help of their agent, Fred Malek (Agence Caractère) and Rachel Desmarest for the remaining roles.
The shooting was interrupted by the outbreak of COVID 19 in France, but we finished the remaining three days of shoot at the end of lockdown.

This was my first film, and I couldn't have dreamt for better support; Naomi Amarger (DOP) had a deep understanding of the story I wanted to tell, and she was involved in every step of the prep, and on set too.
We fought so hard to get this film made and finished (nearly a year of post production), but I am over the moon to be able to let it finally see the end of the tunnel (pun 100% intended) in festivals.