Bech, Luxembourg. A woman is found in the middle of the forest by the police. She doesn’t know who she is, where she comes from or what she was doing there… But, strangely, she is very knowledgeable, just like a walking Wikipedia. Who is this woman, the main suspect in an ongoing investigation about the disappearance of three children?
The 2020 Spotlight Selection web series W. (LUX) will keep you on the edge of your seat with its clever plot and endearing and intriguing characters.
Melbourne WebFest talked to W. creator and producer Frédéric Zeimet about the creation of the series and its unique protagonist, as well as his hopes for the future.
From the moment you came up with the idea to the release of the episodes, how long have you been working on your series?
There is a long story and a short story.
I have had the idea for a series about someone being found in the middle of nowhere without any recollection of their identity for a while now but I first tried to write it for TV. The first time I wrote down some ideas and scenes was back in 2013-2014 but the whole plot was set in France with a male protagonist. There was no mention of Asperger.
In the Summer of 2018, while at home with my firstborn son, I started thinking about doing a series for the web and I came back to this idea… that I then changed completely.
I started doing a lot of research about autism in general, then about web series and how to be able to produce a series with very very very little means.
So long story short; from the first words written down in the final draft to the web series you can watch now, everything took more or less 2 years.
I don’t think I had ever heard someone speak Luxembourgish before. Why that choice? And how important do you think it is to make shows/movies in the official language of where the story is happening? Why?
Well, that is a tricky question. Luxembourgish is a language that I think nearly 99,9% of the world population has never heard of. But for me, it is part of my everyday life. I speak Luxembourgish with my wife, with my friends, colleagues. Though I speak French with my family and my children, it is hard for me to imagine a series taking place in Luxembourg but in another language. Isn’t it one of the greatest thing about fiction, the possibility to make you discover new ways of living, of human interaction and communication that you maybe don’t understand immediately but that you can emotionally understand and develop some empathy for? Everybody is speaking about “glocal”, doing something deeply local that can resonate globally. For me, it wasn’t something planned but much more an organic process. The series is taking place in Luxembourg, I wasn’t going to hide it. I wanted to show typical landscapes, languages, people…
W. Trailer
How long was post-production?
Well, that was a little bit longer than hoped for and imagined. Because we didn’t have a big budget, we were depending on the good faith of all the participants.
We shot in May 2019, finished editing in July and showed the series on the big screen end of November. So all in all about 6 months? The longest part was the sound.
What was your greatest challenge creating the series?
Everything was a challenge but that was what we wanted it to be. A challenge. Doing a web series with the fifth of the amount for a short film in Luxembourg, but double the length. Working with first-timer in front and behind the camera. Tackling a complex plot and a complex subject in an “entertaining” way. Forty-five minutes of fiction in 4 days of shooting.
All along the process we were confronted with doubts… but we managed to keep our heads up because we all wanted to complete this challenge the best we could.
What is your favourite part of the series?
Good question again. While shooting, doing the series, you sometimes are so invested that you have just one aim, finish the series… and you tend to forget to enjoy parts of the process. Now that the series is out, I like to rewatch it because there are so many things I “rediscover” (even if I created everything and I was there all along the process). I think one of my favourite parts is Catherine Elsen’s way of portraying W. I think she did a marvellous job, able to play this character and making it relatable.
I really like how the comedy between the two policemen works out. And if I had to name one scene that is my favourite, it would be the end of Episode 6.
The sixth episode ends on quite the cliffhanger, have you got other episodes on the way? What’s next for the series?
Well, I knew from the beginning that this season would just be the beginning. The second part is outlined and the first two episodes of the season exist as first drafts. The second part should be 8 episodes long. The problem is, I am not willing to continue the series without some financial support and with a little more means. Everybody got paid on this project, it was important for me to not ask anyone to work for free (except myself). But I want to be able to pay people what they deserve and for what they did they should get more.
The money we got for the first season was 30k euros but we can not access this aid in Luxembourg anymore. It was a one-time thing. So I am looking for alternatives and for ways to finance the future of the series. Six Letters, my production company, is considered as an independent company and we have no access to bigger support from our State Funding.
But, because, the first experience was so great, we still did three special episodes during the quarantine/lockdown here in Luxembourg. Again about 5 minutes long but these episodes are apart from the main plot of the series. We have the two policemen as main protagonists and W. only appears at the end of the last episode. But it was a way for us to continue what we had, to develop the world we created and to thank for all the support we got from everywhere. It was also an opportunity to tackle a complex subject again.
So right now W. is 6 episodes plus 3 special episodes long and if we manage to have the financial support we need, then we can show the world 8 other episodes, if not, sadly there will be no “next for the series” (damn, writing these words is really aching).
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