September 2002, Vanessa filmed a TV spot for the Art & Essai, an association that owns 35 theaters across Paris. Art & Essai celebrates auteur films by lowering ticket prices annually to 3 euros. In the commercial, Vanessa walks under a glowing bridge on a Paris night, accompanied by the music of the band Lamb (that's not her singing) and snippets of dialogue from French movies. 
 

French Elle: Paris, a September night, on the Bir Hakeim bridge. On a dolly, a camera idly follows a diaphanous young girl who walks with alert steps. From time to time, she turns her head, smiles, then resumes her stroll. As soon as she crosses an arcade, she hears extracts of dialogues from mythical films. Her face lights up, you feel she's happy. She sets out again . . . At the end of the bridge, the city of Paris is at her feet. "Cut, we've got the shot!" howls Fernand Berengeur, the director, to his actress. Who is none other than Vanessa Paradis. 

Leaving behind her usual reserve, the young lady, filled with enthusiasm for the project, is indeed the sole lead in this short film destined to promote the "Cinema Art& Essai" of Paris. "I felt that I was going to have a great time. I immediately said yes to the director who had nicely thought of me. And I do not regret it." The actress confides, "I want people to know that I don't just make children . . . even if that's what I like to do best . . ." She so loves being a mother that she continues to breastfeed Jack, her little boy, soon to be 6 months. Forget about a good night's rest. But that doesn't upset her. On the contrary: "I realize my position of privilege, which allows me to do only what I hold dear to my heart. I can do nothing, but feel really good. My man and my children are enough to make me happy," she lets slip, almost while apologizing for being so content. 

Indeed, Vanessa breathes plenitude and aspires to tranquility. She will be 30 years old at the end of this year, but age hasn't caught up with this little bit of woman, with the body and voice of an eternal teenager, who happily wears her trademark jeans in a size 1, despite two pregnancies. Smiling, helpful, she gets the meal trays for her mother and grandmother, who talk quietly at the end of her makeup trailer. She's a star, but apart from the star system. With the man of her life, she aspires to only one this: to see her two children grow up, to get away from a certain kind of reality. "It's been a little while since I've gone to the movie theater. For example, the last film I saw, it was The Crossing of Paris, on the TV . . . Not very recent! But I live with an American, so we have to find films that everyone in the family understands . . ." After a night at the hotel, she will return to the South of France, return to them. "I really want to raise my children here, it's healthier. But we often go back to the United States. It's important that they're familiar with the other part of the roots . . ." 

Next spring, Vanessa beings work on the first film by the Poiraud brothers. Two young directors of commercials and music videos, a little outside of the box, who embark on a new adventure alongside Benoit Poelvoorde . . . So, while waiting for the long version, make a little visit to a small theater, and delight yourself with this little minute and a half. A pure wonder!