Emmanuel Courcol on the universality and emotion of My Brother’s Band (En Fanfare)

Emmanuel Courcol's heartwarming and heartbreaking film My Brother's Band, aka En Fanfare or The Marching Band, is a film about Thibaut (Benjamin Lavernhe), a conductor who discovers he has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. After discovering that his sister is not his blood related sibling and the he was adopted as a child, Thibaut goes down a path of discovery to find his birth mother, and possible siblings. He discovers he has a brother, Jimmy (Pierre Lottin), a working class man who also has an affinity for music.

My Brother's Band invites us to consider just who has access to art, and whether restricting art to those who can afford to engage with it is the right thing at all. It's also about the power of sibling relationships, both from adopted families and from blood relatives. If there's another film from this year that feels aligned to the tone and message that Emmanuel Courcoul is putting forward, it would be Miki Magasiva's Tinā, which also speaks of the power of music and the joy it can bring in the shadow of personal upheaval.

I spoke to director Emmanuel Courcoul, with the assistance of interpreter Sally Blackwood, about the making of My Brother's Band, the emotionality of the film, and what he hopes that Australian audiences will get from the film.

For those who don't speak French, the first half of this episode includes the interpreted responses from Sally Blackwood, while the second half of the interview includes both Emmanuel's French responses and Sally's interpreted responses.

My Brother's Band is in full release across Australia from Boxing Day, with advanced screenings taking place from 12 - 14 December 2025. Check your local cinema for screening details. This is a film that is best seen with a full audience.

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