Will It Snow For Christmas?

The interview with writer/director Sandrine Veysset and cinematographer Hélène Louvart took place 20 years after the film came out. Dressed in jeans they have a relaxed, intense style, so natural and strong. They discuss the type of film (Super 16) they decided to use (mainly hand held) and how it took Sandrine two years to get the thing off the ground. She admits she had attitude and no experience and went to see prospective producers by telling them, "I'm going to make a film with seven children over three seasons."

It was Louvart's first feature film as well. She had made documentaries but that was all. Sandrine denies that Will It Snow is autobiographical despite having spent her childhood on a farm near Montpellier. She prefers to say it is "based on memories".

She auditioned more than 400 children, none of whom knew each other. Two weeks before filming started, those that were chosen had an intense bonding session without parents on location. Dominique Reymond, who is interviewed separately, was from the theatre.

"I knew nothing about cinema and nothing about the countryside," she says, which makes her performance even more remarkable.

Daniel Duval, who plays the father and owner of the farm, was used to tough guy roles in city dramas. Rural life was alien to him also although watching him you would never guess.

The extras are informative although might have benefited from sympathetic editing.