Directors Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata have teamed up with the Paris-based production company Misia Films to adapt their award-winning short film, “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” into a feature film. Narrated by Vicky Krieps and starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi, known for her role in “Holy Spider,” and Luana Bajrami from “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” this absurdist tragicomedy delves into a dystopian world where kissing is a capital offense and transactions are conducted through face slaps.
In this bizarre setting, a compulsive shopper and a naive salesgirl must secretly nurture their budding relationship, especially as their bond starts to arouse suspicion. The short film, selected by Barry Jenkins for its world premiere at Telluride, later won the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest, where the jury praised it for “illustrating how desire and yearning can clash in a capitalistic society while portraying queerness as commonplace.”
Misia Films’ directors, Singh and Musteata, have recently received both the audience award and the Canal+ award at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. They will now develop their feature project through the Groupe Ouest lab in Brittany. Actors Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Luana Bajrami, and Vicky Krieps have all expressed interest in returning for the feature adaptation.
“From the beginning, we knew that this world and these characters were incredibly rich,” says Musteata. “The short film, at just 36 minutes, leaves so much to be developed in this very crazy world. There’s so much more to explore, and we have a deep affection for all these characters – including the villain, I must admit!”
Singh adds, “This whole process has been a learning experience. Our backgrounds are in visual arts – I spent 20 years as a professional artist, and Natalie has a PhD in art history. One day, we started talking about making films together, but we certainly didn’t take a direct route. We definitely espouse a particular and odd kind of cinema.”
As part of the Clermont-Ferrand Canal+ prize, the French pay-TV service has picked up the short film for broadcast and will pre-buy the filmmakers’ next short-form project.