Rob Munday

Every year, when we get a preview of the latest batch of GOBELINS l’école de l’image grad films, we’re on the lookout for that one film that rises above the rest and shows a maturity in filmmaking above what you would usually expect from a student production. Watching the shorts earlier in 2021, La Neige Incertaine (The Uncertain Snow) – the tale of a wildlife photographer searching for polar bears to shoot – was the film that showed just these qualities. 

Initially conceived as a film about “the art of photography”, The Uncertain Snow is a surprisingly sophisticated short that surpasses its simple premise by becoming a rather touching exploration of love. With its team of co-directors explaining how they felt compelled to compare “the act of catching a moment through a camera to the flashes of memory that lasts long after a relationship is over”, the film is layered and relatable, despite the unfamiliar specifics of its storyline. 

“We wanted it to be very sensorial”

With its narrative inspired by the novel La Panthère des Neiges by Sylvain Tesson (also a documentary which screened at this year’s Cannes), the directors cite the book’s themes of “wildlife photography and introspection” as motivators in their story. The work of their protagonist quickly becomes a side-plot in the story though, as it evolves into a touching tale of lost love.

“Our character goes through a process of resilience, which manifests in an obsession with trying to relive the past”, its creators explain, before adding that “we wanted it to be very sensorial”. With sparse dialogue and a short run-time, the team do an excellent job of filling their short with back story, revealing a lot by the brief moments of interactions between their characters. 

The photographer can’t help but relieve the tender moments she shared with her ex-lover

It’s this focus on the senses in their filmmaking that interests me most though. Whether it’s in the visuals of the short – as we witness how the photographer imagines the touch of a snowflake on her lips as a kiss from her ex-lover or how the blanket of snow before her transforms into the bedsheets she shared with him – or the importance of sound in production, this was obviously a decision they made early on in production and one that would help shape the impact of their film.

“To represent the sensory and organic aspect of the film, we used a lot of animated textures on the skin of the characters, and even some animated traditional painting, with vibrant hot colors that contrast with the cold white”, the directors reveal as we discuss their approach to the aesthetic of The Uncertain Snow. I mentioned in a previous write-up how when you’re making a film in such a barren, snowy landscape you want your audience to ” feel that biting snap of winter in your bones” and this is certainly the case with the success of this short.

Wind once again plays an important role, as the blustery din of the artic gales underscores large portions of the short, dominating our sensory experience. With The Uncertain Snow though, I found it was the smaller details that makes all the difference. From the frost on the photographer’s eyelashes to the minuscule snowflake that lands on her lip it all adds to the immersive feel. However, it’s those clouds of condensation from the character’s breathe that are the real stars here, made from “live-action footage of vapour”, this little touch really brings the film’s characters and world alive.