Skip to main content
Let Me Go film image

Let Me Go

Laissez-moi

This event has passed

North American Premiere

This erotically charged drama set in the Swiss Alps stars the utterly captivating Jeanne Balibar (Memoria) as a mature single woman seeking companionship through intimate encounters with men staying at a remote mountain chalet. In a game of seduction well known to the staff, she zeroes in on a gentleman of interest and engages in guarded but pointed small talk in her pursuit of pleasure behind closed doors. She then re-buttons her dress and returns to caring for her disabled son. Until one day she picks someone who plans to stick around.

Maxime Rappaz makes a stunning feature debut reminiscent of the polished works of Tom Ford and Paul Thomas Anderson with this modern take on a classic love story that explores desire at an age rarely depicted on screen. Transitioning from a career in fashion, his background lends itself naturally to a portrait of an enigmatic, meticulously put-together dame full of fiery yearning, while Balibar adds a touch of charm and elegance that will never go out of style.

 

Presented by

Supported by

Community Partner

Director
Cast

Jeanne Balibar, Thomas Sarbacher, Pierre-Antoine Dubey, Véronique Mermoud, Adrien Savigny

Credits
Country of Origin

Switzerland/France/Belgium

Year

2023

Series

Vanguard

Language

In French with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
92 min
Drama Romance

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits

Producer

Gabriela Bussmann, Yan Decoppet,Camile Genaud

Screenwriter

Maxime Rappaz, Marion Vernoux, Florence Seyvos

Cinematography

Benoit Dervaux

Editor

Caroline Detournay

Production Design

Ivan Niclass, Rekha Musale

Original Music

Antoine Bodson

Director

Maxime Rappaz headshot

Maxime Rappaz

Born in 1986 in Geneva, Maxime Rappaz worked in the fashion world before turning to cinema. In 2016, he obtained a master’s degree in cinema and screenwriting, he then directed the short film L’été tendresse. His first feature film Laissez-Moi, starring Jeanne Balibar, will be released in 2023. Maxime Rappaz is currently writing his second feature film.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Coward

Dir. Lukas Dhont
120 min

With the First World War raging, two young Belgian soldiers develop an explosive chemistry while serving in their company’s theatre troupe. Coward is a reminder that transformative moments of tenderness can occur even amid the darkest circumstances.

The Park Theatre

Linka Linka

Dir. Kangdrun
100 min

Kangdrun's feature debut depicts a twentysomething filmmaker coming to grips with a shameful act she committed in childhood. Moving between past and present, with each main character played by two actors, this is a provocative and challenging work.

The Cinematheque
Tender Loving Care
Tender Loving Care film image; three women chatting by a window

Tender Loving Care

Dir. Mike Leigh
107 min

Mike Leigh’s film depicts the lives of Amy and Rosie, best friends and fellow social workers, who care for the dispossessed with all the strength they have. Sometimes it's funny, tragic, and often it's balancing both, this is a work of humble compassion.

Vancouver Playhouse

A Place of Absence

Dir. Marialuisa Ernst
86 min

A Place of Absence follows the Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants along migration routes through Mexico and toward the United States, while tracing the disappearance that shaped the filmmaker’s own family history.

International Village 9
Look Back
Look Back film image; two women in toques laughing

Look Back

Dir. Kore-eda Hirokazu
100 min

Schoolgirls Fujina and Kyomoto find success creating manga together, until one day a rift occurs… Taking us from triumph through tragedy and out the other side, Look Back has all the grace and tenderness director Kore-eda Hirokazu is famous for.

Lindsay Family Stage at Granville Island

The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony

Dir. Habiba Nosheen
92 min

The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony follows a group of young female gymnasts in Pakistan's Machar Colony, a highly conservative fishing settlement. Habiba Nosheen's deeply empathetic documentary is a celebration of girlhood, resilience, and self-expression.

Alliance Francaise