Aurélien Achache
Aurélien Achache is a French filmmaker with an international scope. Since graduating in 2018, he has built his path across music videos, advertising, and fiction, always keeping storytelling at the core of his work.
His cinematic vision explores both the strength of images and the persistence of memory. A striking example is Memories of French Guiana, finalist in the category Best Experimental Documentary at Experimental Brasil 2025. The film recalls the remembrance of a former convict in French Guiana, weaving a visual tapestry that goes beyond mere historical reconstruction and stands as a poetic meditation on time, the body, and oblivion.
Achache positions himself as an author who shapes cinema into a field of experimentation and discovery, where each project marks another step toward his ultimate goal: telling stories that endure.
EB: To start, could you introduce yourself to the Brazilian audience and tell us how you first found your voice as a filmmaker?
Hello, I am a French filmmaker. I was drawn very early to the magic of images and sound…
EB: Your background includes music videos, fiction, and advertising. How do these different formats influence your approach to storytelling?
I believe in the purity of fiction, so the format that shaped me the most was short films. That’s where I really discovered the essence of storytelling…
EB: You’ve mentioned that story is your ultimate goal. What does a powerful story mean to you, and how do you know when you’ve found one?
For me, a powerful story creates an emotional connection—something that cannot really be explained or intellectualized. It’s all about feeling it…
EB: Memories of French Guiana is described as an abstract fresco of a convict’s memory. What inspired you to explore this subject and this region?
I was fascinated by French Guiana, by these prisons swallowed by the jungle—nature slowly reclaiming the ruins. There was something both beautiful and terrifying in the way memory and time devour everything…
EB: The film seems to deal with themes of memory, trauma, and possibly redemption. What kind of emotional or historical atmosphere were you aiming to evoke?
I wanted to explore madness in all its forms—human, natural, and societal.
EB: Did you conduct any specific research about the penal colonies in French Guiana, or was your approach more poetic and intuitive?
Yes, I did a lot of research, I read everything I could find about it. Then I let the poetry of writing take over… At first it was very rational, then it became purely intuitive.
EB: The film has been described as abstract. How do you approach abstraction without losing emotional connection with the viewer?
I believe abstraction is guided by intuition, and intuition is always rooted in emotion. So I just follow my instincts…
EB: You’ve cited directors like Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, Danny Boyle, and Jean-Jacques Annaud as favorites. What qualities from their work do you find most resonant in your own?
I’m deeply influenced by the imagery in their work.
EB: You describe cinema as a reflection of life itself. What kinds of truth are you most drawn to explore through your films?
I am drawn to the truth of memory… to fully understand a memory through cinema.
EB: How do you balance visual immersion with narrative clarity in a film that leans toward abstraction?
Through chapters, history, and the character’s quest.
EB: How did the process of making Memories of French Guiana challenge or evolve your perspective as a director?
It was a very DIY film, a beautiful adventure that demanded enormous physical effort. We were just two—my DOP and myself—trying to capture this ambitious subject about the memories of French Guiana…
EB: What are you working on now? Are you continuing to explore historical or memory-based themes in future projects?
I’m currently working on two feature films. I’m also developing other short film scripts…
