Almost, feel good movie with Bernard Campan, has the philosopher Alexandre Jollien as its headliner. Spotlight on his journey.
Almost marks the film debut of Alexandre Jollien. With Bernard Campan (from the Unknown gang), the two form the accomplice tandem of the film.
From philosopher to actor
Born on November 26, 1975 in Switzerland, Alexandre Jollien grew up from the age of 3 to 20 in a specialized institution for people with disabilities. Due to a strangulation by the umbilical cord at birth, he is indeed cerebral palsy. Despite a path strewn with pitfalls, he manages, with the support of his family and his strength of character, to carry out a so-called normal schooling.
In the early 1990s, he discovered philosophy, which became his favorite field. After a stint in 2001 at Trinity College in Dublin where he studied ancient Greek, he obtained a degree in letters in 2004 at the University of Fribourg.
In 1999, he published his first book, praise of weakness, a philosophical and autobiographical story in which he looks back on his youth spent in a specialized center in the form of a dialogue with Socrates. Eight other books will follow as well as regular contributions to journals such as Femina, Life and The world of religions, among others.
From 2013 to 2016, he stayed in Seoul with his partner and their three children, in order to live a spiritual experience with Father Bernard, a Canadian Jesuit and Zen master.
A film co-written and co-directed by the duo
After having accompanied Bernard Campan in the writing of his film La Face Cachée in 2007, Alexandre Jollien finds the ex-Inconnu in 2021 for Almost, a feature film they co-directed, co-wrote and in which they hold the main roles. This road-movie addresses disability and promotes better living together
Almost, it’s the story of two men who take the road, from Lausanne to the south of France, in a hearse. They know each other little, have little in common, or so they think…
If you believe first, reading this pitch, to have a certain impression of “deja vu”, you quickly let yourself be carried away by this unexpected tandem. Almost brings together an extremely endearing duo that makes us go from laughter to tears in no time. The (true) complicity between Bernard Campan and Alexandre Jollien shines through on screen and gives this bittersweet comedy a sincerity and an extra soul that make this film a pleasant surprise.
Almost, which has notably been selected for the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival, will be released on our screens this Wednesday, January 26, 2022.