“Here I must say that putting desire at the centre isn’t about making it organic or personal; that would be feminine and despised; it is to make it sharp and uncompromising. It is about the construction and being radical with yourself, not self-indulgent at all. It’s about resisting easy pleasures and resisting the temptation of belonging. At that point I’m sure [this] feels quite abstract, mostly because desire doesn’t feel reliable as a method. Desire doesn’t even have the reputation [to be] accurate; can we trust someone’s desires? It seems like a very vast and mysterious feeling or sensation, but make no mistake, it’s not because it’s [wide], it’s because it is hitting hard somewhere and having a strong echo. Like [a] rising tide I might say, and that [leaves a chance] to [that] title.
I think desire is super accurate, but you have to locate it. My job as a screenwriter is to work on locating that place where desire is precisely hitting.”
Céline Sciamma on Letting Desires Dictate Writing | Screenwriters’ Lecture Series BAFTA Guru
Transcript from the 2019 Screenwriters’ Lecture Series: Céline Sciamma | Monday 2 December 2019, Curzon Mayfair London
