While employed as a social worker in Brussels, Hyun Lories graduated from the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound in Belgium. After making his 2016 short film Behind the Walls (2016), he returned in 2020 with Versailles, which premiered at the International Film Festival Gent and has already received a number of domestic plaudits. Now the film will be part of European Film Promotion’s Future Frames during the 55^th edition of Karlovy Vary.

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The film follows the fortunes of Saana, who, despite being seemingly content with her job and girlfriend, feels out of place. She soon returns to the housing estate where she grew up and tries to reconnect with her sister. But despite feeling relatively at ease with her surroundings, there are still old demons ready to rear their heads. With a hint of poetry amongst the grit of social realism, Lories presents a story that is delicate yet powerful. We chatted to him about the setting and how his past as a social worker influenced the film.

Cineuropa: What inspired you to make Versailles?
Hyun Lories: It all started with the idea of making a trip to the sea for the first time. A couple of years ago, when I was still working as a youth worker, I organised a trip for youngsters, and I noticed two 12-year-old brothers in the group who were in total awe of the sea, alternately attracted to and afraid of it. I can still feel the scratch marks they made in my back after jumping up when a little wave scared them away. It made me realise it was their first time at sea, and the moment stuck with me; it got me thinking. I thought of it as a poetic image: two teenagers seeing the sea for the first time – what if they always wanted to make a trip but never managed to do it?

As a youth worker, I also experienced on a daily basis how things like going on a trip to the seaside with your parents, for example, is something very common and normal for some people, but it isn’t at all for other, less fortunate kids.Leaving your surroundings isn’t necessarily an easy job, and neither is going back. Growing up can be such a hard thing to do: finding out where you belong without disappointing the people you love is something that will keep on coming back in the stories I want to tell.

Tell us more about Versailles as a location. What was it about the area that seems so crucial to you?
I've been working as a social youth worker for almost seven years, so I’ve been around social housing projects a lot. My previous short, Behind the Walls, was also a portrait of a girl growing up in a social housing project. For this film, I picked Versailles because I got in touch with a youth worker who lived there, and I had some positive contact with the youngsters when I spoke to them about the project. Two of them are in the film, but it could have been Les Cinq Blocs or Cité Modèle, other areas in Brussels that are known for not necessarily being easy. And by that I also mean it’s not necessarily difficult growing up there either...

Also, whenever I’m inspired, my stories originate from the universe of youngsters, growing up on the margins of society, who are trying to find their way as best they can. They are often coping with a lot and facing a lot of challenges; they are seen as outcasts, while all they want is to be happy like all the other kids.

Salomé Dos Santos gives a great performance as Saana and holds the entire film together. How did you go about finding her for the role and working with her?
Salomé is a Belgian rapper. I got to know her through friends and on the set of a music video directed by my partner, Laura Van Haecke. It was a narrative music video, and I noticed right away that she had natural acting skills.

What are you working on next?
I recently directed a pilot episode for a documentary web series about Brussels, and I was asked by Sun Mee, a South Korean screenwriter who was also adopted in Belgium, to direct the script for a feature she is writing. With Versailles, I received the VAF Wildcard from the Flanders Audiovisual Fund, which means I have secured production funding for a new short film that I am currently writing.