Director and actor Fred De Loof was present at BRIFF to present his first feature film, Totem. A promising first with a room full to crack, which recalls how much Fred De Loof is on the rise in the country of the moneyadelle. Customizes the crazy projects, the director made his weapons in short films like Caca Boudin or Pigeons.** everywhere. Totem in this fecal vein with fruitful humor. A preview that hit the Belgian public, particularly receptive to comedies released from taboos. In parallel, Fred also presented in the open air his new series Barakiof which we could see the first episodes. And since we don't lack generosity, when it comes to black humour and social comedy, we have also been able to exchange without a filter with Fred De Loof.
Friture – Connecting People
Fred De Loof is a director who gladly embraces the cap actor crazy. Always ready to play well tempered roles, Fred is not afraid to wear the mule! “Since he is Belgian, he drinks beer, eats fries and chocolate but not all at the same time"as he says on his website dedicated to his work! An attempt to self-define yourself that fits perfectly with the character we met at BRIFF!
Totem – You guys, I'll never forget you...
Totem narrates the adventures of the wolf patrol whose one of them disappeared. Twenty years later, Fred is traumatized and continues to see giant rats haunt him at night. A group therapy engages at the sites of their last camp. The synopsis of the film states that « everything will go on peanuts when, at the bottom of their toilets, they will discover a temporal passage ». The wormhole is immediately the occasion of delusions about the theory of chaos and the spatio-temporal paradoxes, which result, as everyone knows, from the risks of the profession of jumping into a false to purin. For those who never miss the opportunity to laugh at pipi-caca jokes, Totem managed to seduce by his completely barred approach. « We've always done shit and we'd all dream of being able to go back in time to change them. », here's the starting idea that made the Totem project sprout as Fred De Loof explained to the public during the Brussels preview !
« The poop is a metaphor of life, we live things that are beautiful in the image of the food we eat and in the end we die and rot. There's nothing left... like shit! »
Under these airs of Stranger Things gone in a lollipop Multiverse where the superheroes would be a bunch of old scouts without faith or law, Totem manages to make laugh by parodying as well the codes of horror films crossed with forest survival according to tradition ramboist. Driven by a sustained pace and quality achievement, Totem is a good entertainment, which does not fall into the pitfall of heavyness and knows how to measure his humour at the right time. A feat and a nice surprise with regard to the pitch of departure! Totem like Baraki also offer through the mirror of laughter a reflection on the affirmation of personality and the harassment that society sometimes promotes.
Baraki - Tuning, more than a job, a passion!
One baraki What is it? A distant cousin of the Jacky or the plouc according to some, the baraki is a beauf who ignores but not only... For example, cultivating an unmasked taste for automotive art, frying and honour, he is also distinguished by his assertive personality. Don't call him a baraki under pain of reprisal and in the baraki family of De Loof's film, the vendetta is an art. Particularly worn by the auction, these first four episodes were an opportunity to get to know a family of Marsoux in Wallonia. This sitcom is a social comedy about the Berthet family, well known as a model of « Barakism ».
« The Baraki are people who live in barracks, small houses that were intended for miners from Italy. The term baraki has extended to the entire population, which is generally more financially disadvantaged and has a somewhat special look. »
There are some colourful characters: Yvan, a young orphan from a neighbourhood who decides to enter the normal life for the woman of her dreams, Didier a self-centered, bipolar drug dealer – and with an easy ball – addicted to the decibel contests and determined to crush his rival Rayan Terrier, played by Fred De Loof himself. Special mention at the arrival of Fred De Loof with the bass boxes at full speed to impress his opponent who broke his teeth to be treated as a baraki!
We also follow many other huluberlus with a casting in part common to that of Totem. The driver of the series is very rhythmic and promises funny episodes and perhaps more touching characters than he seems. Like a box of resonance in a trunk of a Honda at the Marsoux decibel contest, Baraki is a local curiosity that paints an amplified portrait of these forgotten and in no way to mock. The laughter here is sensitive to the baraki's freedom of tone, which, unlike others, does not hesitate to free itself from codes to realize its dreams and fulfill its desire as Fred De Loof explains:
« What we find beautiful in the baraki is that there is freedom of mind. There are guys who do a raclette in a pool with extensions, who do a pool in a pickup... Okay, we want to live this, we're going! We're not going to get into the mold that society wants to inflict on us. »
A good start for these first four episodes. Case to follow on the duration as always for the series! Outings planned exclusively in Belgium for the moment! We hope that Baraki as Totem will give rise to a French distribution, because no doubt these social comedies can find an audience in France. Belgian cinema remains an example of the storytelling of small people and we hope that Baraki follow this same path at the crossroads of laughter and sensitivity: a path drawn by The crap of things And many more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lMGhWFo-A
Oh, that damn Artaud, it's been a long time since I heard it! It's true that I could almost have quoted him! I love this extra extract!