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Emilia Pérez film image; woman posed for audience

Emilia Pérez

VIFF Closing Gala

Special Presentations

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Undefeated in the courtroom, Rita (Zoe Saldana), a Mexico City defence attorney, is enlisted to tend to the affairs of a notorious drug lord (Karla Sofía Gascón) who has grown contrite and is now completing gender affirmation surgery. Rechristened Emilia Pérez and determined to right a litany of past misdeeds, she relies on Rita to reintegrate her in the lives of her wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and young children. However, in Emilia’s past, there is more than one score to settle; there will be blood, ballads, and dance numbers.

Several decades into his distinguished career, Jacques Audiard (A Prophet; Rust and Bone) has delivered the most outré entry in his oeuvre with this maximalist musical that’s punctuated by gunplay and buoyed by unabashed melodrama. Gascón is absolutely mesmerising to behold as a woman striving for actualization and redemption. And everyone in the ensemble is singing from the same hymn sheet, staging a cinematic spectacle that needs to be seen and heard to be believed.

 

Jury Prize: Official Competition, Cannes 2024; Best Actress Award: Official Competition, Cannes 2024

 

Imagine a world in which Stephen Sondheim made Sicario.

David Fear, Rolling Stone

 

Supported by

Director
Cast

Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, Edgar Ramírez, Mark Ivanir

Credits
Country of Origin

France

Year

2024

Language

In Spanish with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+
132 min
Action & Suspense Award Winners Drama Legendary Filmmakers LGBTQIA2S+
Why Not Productions, PAGE 114, Saint Laurent Productions, Pathé, France 2 Cinéma

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Pauline Lamy

Producer

Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Valérie Schermann, Anthony Vaccarello, Ardavan Safaee, Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

Screenwriter

Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Nicolas Livecchi, Léa Mysius

Cinematography

Paul Guilhaume

Editor

Juliette Welfling

Production Design

Emmanuelle Duplay

Original Music

Clément Ducol, Camille

Jacques Audiard headshot; Emilia Pérez director

Jacques Audiard

Born in Paris, Jacques Audiard began his career as a screenwriter in the 1980s. His directorial debut, See How They Fall (1994), won the César for Best First Film. Audiard’s A Self-Made Hero (1996) won Best Screenplay at Cannes, while Read My Lips (2002) and The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) received multiple César Awards. A Prophet (2009) won Cannes’ Grand Prix and Dheepan (2015) won the Palme d’Or. Audiard’s American debut, The Sisters Brothers, premiered at Venice in 2018. Emilia Pérez marks Audiard’s tenth feature film.

Filmography: See How They Fall (1994); A Self-Made Hero (1996); A Prophet (2009); Rust and Bone (2012); Dheepan (2015); Paris, 13th District (2021)

Photo by Pascal Le Segretain

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