Cannes

It’s 2014 and Nadia (Monia Chokri) and Céline (Ella Rumpf) are expecting their first child.

37 years old Nadia is carrying the baby. Her partner, Céline, is a 32 years old musician and a DJ. Céline is still trying to find her place and a sense of legitimacy amongst her judgmental friends, her mother (a renowned pianist who spends most of her time travelling the world) and the French law which isn’t very forthcoming towards same-sex couples who choose to be parents.

Director and screenwriter Alice Douard based the script on her personal experiences when she went through the exact same process on her way to motherhood. With a loving look and plenty of empathy she explores her characters, their couple’s conflicts and personal dilemmas.

César award winners Ella Rumpf (“Raw”, “Marguerite’s Theorem”) and Monia Chokri (“Love Me Tender” and Xavier Dolan’s films “Lawrence Anyway” “Heartbeats”) portray the roles of Céline and Nadia with sincerity, love and plenty of empathy and gives us the feel of two women in love who undergo an alternative and powerful experience- this film proves once again just how great are those two actresses are.

In association with the Embassy of France & Institut français de Tel Aviv

Actress Vicky Krieps seem to be everywhere these days- her big break was at Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom thread” alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, “The survivor” with Ben Foster, the horror thriller “Time” by director M. Night Shayamalan and “Corsage” where she played Austrian Empress Sisi.

Now she enters the shoes of a woman who is fighting for custody over her son, in a performance that can only be described as tour de force. Krieps manages to move, make laugh, hurt and simply dominate the screen for 134 minutes.

At the end of one summer Clemence tells her ex-husband that she is having romantic relationships with women. Her life falls apart when he demands sole custody over their son, claiming she is unstable. Clemence is shocked to discover the French law is on her ex-husband’s side- now she must go through a line of social workers and fight to prove that she is a fit mother while still maintaining her identity as a free woman.

In her second feature film, director Anna Cazenave proves she is destined to be a brave and meaningful voice in current French cinema.

In association with the Embassy of France & Institut français de Tel Aviv