Sebastien: Emphysema

A self-proclaimed “retard” when it came to anything technological at school, director Sebastien was a late bloomer in film, picking up his first camera as a teen in photography class.

“I only did it so I didn’t have to take science,” recalls the director. “But then I won an award which came as a surprise to me (and everyone else). I didn’t have the best pictures but my teacher felt I approached the brief from a different perspective than the other students.”

Self-deprecation aside, Sebastien’s Your Own Worst Enemy is a sophisticated tour de force about smoking and the lung disease Emphysema that encourages smokers to call the Australian quit line. Its narrative weaves the health dangers of smoking in and around the concept of being chased or terrorised… by yourself.

A theme Sebastien was itching to explore. “I think, as humans we’re our own worst enemies most of the time. So I had this concept of a group of people being violently abducted and buried out in the woods, by themselves,” he explains. “The burying alive was the perfect reflection of suffocation from smoking. So I knew I was onto something cool that would hopefully leave an impact on the viewer.”

The spot was shot in two nights around Sydney, with pre-production completed in less than two weeks.

Sebastien completed short films at university, but it wasn’t until he saw David Fincher’s Seven that things changed. “It was the first time I saw how everything should work together,” comments the Sydney-sider. “The acting complimented the script, the cinematography complimented the direction and so on. Everything made everything else better.”

But while he had dabbled in directing, it was his experience as an actor in commercials in Los Angeles for 10 years that shaped his storytelling technique.

“Coming from an acting background, narrative storytelling is always a main interest and influence. Beyond that, I want things to look beautiful and visual,” he explains. “And today with all the amazing equipment out there, there’s no excuse for something to look like shit, regardless of the budget.”

True to his word, and with a self-imposed budget of just AUS $1,000 he completed Your Own Worst Enemy in style.

Now signed to Sydney’s Luscious International, Sebastien believes his experience as an actor enables him to create a productive and nurturing environment on set. After a decade in the business of playing other people’s characters, the time was right to start developing his own.

“I pride myself on being an actor’s director. I know what its like to be them,” he states. “I’m very lucky a company of Luscious’ calibre saw potential in me. But like all things, it’s about the timing.”