Director Biography - Keyvan Sheikhalishahi

Keyvan is a 21-year-old French filmmaker. He made his first short Vesper (2017) when he was 18 with German actor Götz Otto (Schindler's List, Tomorrow Never Dies, Downfall, Pillars of the Earth, Cloud Atlas, Dignity...). He made his second short Nox (2019) with Australian actor Matt Passmore (The Glades, Satisfaction, Jigsaw). His new one, Divertimento is his third short. Each of the actors of this short accepted to make this movie in less than two days, Keyvan was compared with a 'young Spielberg' by Lutz and Otto on set.

Director Statement

I wanted to go beyond the limits of the short film. I was lucky enough to shoot with an impressive cast in a beautiful location, an 18th-century castle. 150 people worked on this movie and made this tale possible to be told.

What’s at the centre of this story is the issue of responsibility facing a tragic event. For you, who's responsible for what happened? Who's the 'good' guy, who's the 'bad' one? Who's guilty?

All the movie deals with memory, its structure between reality and imagination allows the audience to follow what the character thinks. At the beginning, he doesn’t know more than us, he doesn’t know where he goes, what he’s getting into. We explore his thoughts and his memories at the same time as him. In other words, he lives the same immersive experience than us.

Divertimento is an experience movie as the story and the atmosphere are like one.