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
Jeanne Balibar, Thomas Sarbacher, Pierre-Antoine Dubey, Véronique Mermoud, Adrien Savigny
Switzerland/France/Belgium
2023
Vanguard
In French with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
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
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
Into the Jaws of the Ogre
Having left Iran for France, filmmaker Mahsa Karampour now reunites with her musician brother in America. Mixing the structure of a road movie with the brashness of a punk anthem, this intimate documentary is humanist filmmaking of the highest order.
Everytime
Winner of this year’s prestigious Un Certain Regard award at Cannes, Sandra Wollner’s exquisite debut is a tender drama in which a mother is drawn closer to her youngest daughter and her late daughter’s boyfriend as they make sense of a shared tragedy.
Image: © The Barricades Panama Film, Gregory Oke
Frank & Louis
In a bid to increase his changes at parole, Frank joins an initiative where long-term inmates care for aging prisoners suffering from dementia. But when he meets the elderly Louis, it puts his own predicament into perspective.
Jim Queen
When far-right activists infect gay influencer Jim Queen with a drug that turns him straight, he must join forces with a closeted follower to cure his ailment. Jim Queen is a film unafraid to skewer gay “body fascism” and bigoted conservatism alike.
Species
Species follows Margot, a young doctor who wakes covered in blood as the pressures of a demanding French ER take a physical toll. As lesions spread across her body, workplace burnout transforms into skin-tearing body horror.
Image: © ARP Sélection Trésor Films Windy Production
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
A career thief’s circumstances grow desperate when he fences valuable merchandise stolen from a vengeful crime family. John Turturro is exquisite as a wiseacre who is typically one step ahead of everyone but now finds himself behind the eight ball.