FRANCE
2011 / WORLD PREMIERE
1H45 / IN FRENCH

Synopsis
Hannah and Violetta are an odd couple: an elusive mother and a little girl in search of maternal love, a fanciful artist and her reluctant model.
When Hannah asks Violetta if she would like to be her model, her life with her loving grandmother is turned upside down. From a normal childhood to muse of the trendy Paris art scene…

director: Eva Ionesco
screenplay: Eva Ionesco (in collaboration with Marc Cholodencko, Philippe Le Guay)
cinematography: Jeanne Lapoirie
editing: Laurence Briaud
sound : Olivier Mauvezin
production design: François-Renaud Labarthe
music: Bertrand Burgalat

cast:
Isabelle Huppert
Anamaria Vartolomei
Georgetta Leahu
Denis Lavant
Jehtro Cave
Louis Do de Lencquesaing
Pascal Bongard

production
Les Productions Bagheera
François Marquis
Tel. +33 1 48 74 41 41
Mob. +33 6 16 24 73 21
francois.marquis@baghprod.com

coproduction
LOVE STREAMS AGNÈS B. PRODUCTIONS
FRANCE 2 CINÉMA

distribution
Sophie Dulac Distribution
Michel Zana
Tel. +33 1 44 43 46 00
Mob. +33 6 10 81 18 48
mzana@sddistribution.fr

sales
Urban Distribution International
Eric Schnedecker
Tel. +33 1 48 70 46 55
Mob. +33 6 30 72 72 27
Mob. +1 212 203 7008
contact@urbandistrib.com

French press
Matilde Incerti H
ôtel Univers
2 rue du Maréchal Foch
06400 Cannes
Tel. +33 4 93 06 30 00 (Cannes)
matilde.incerti@free.fr

International press
WOLF Consultants
Gordon Spragg
Laurin Dietrich
Michael Arnon
Tel. +33 7 61 19 01 20
hello@wolf-con.com

My Little Princess, this conjures up the fairy tale…
I quite rapidly came to this genre and to a linear story somehow naive, in the good sense of the term, because I felt that’s what suited the characters best. In a tale, one can easily bring on the idea of a devouring mother. The story is about this mother who takes pictures of her daughter, but who is blind, who adores her daughter and is at the same time walking all over her, on the verge of killing her. It’s between tale and tragedy.

How did you find your Violetta, performed by Anamaria Vartolomei ?
I organized a casting with 500 little girls. I ran quite a number of tests with Anamaria. I wanted to make sure she wouldn’t get scared in the long run. We worked together a lot; we approached the story to make it less dramatic. I lent her my clown nose to teach her to have fun with her body. Playing such a part doesn’t come naturally when you’re a ten year-old girl.

How did you meet Isabelle Huppert ?
I had wanted to work with Isabelle for a very long time. To me, she was the only one who could play this part of someone intellectual and poisonous, and still be convincing.
Isabelle was fascinating but I was a little scared. I finally gave her the script on a shooting and she gave me her answer right after that.

Would ‘self-fiction’ define you/your film?
I would say yes and no: yes it is self-fiction and at the same time it isn’t, because my work has been to move off centre. I didn’t want to play a part in it. I like filming people and I like image. For me, the question is finding the best spot from which to tell the story.

Interview by Matthieu Daras