Diane Kurys directs Pour une femme

by Fabien Lemercier

20/08/2012 - Diane Kurys has almost finished filming her 12th feature, Pour une femme (lit. "For a woman"). The director who made Peppermint Soda (1977), Entre Nous (nominated for an Oscar for best film in a foreign language in 1984) and even A Man in Love (that competed at Cannes in 1987) is once again working with actors Benoît Magimel (in The Children of the Century in 1998, and more recently in Little White Lies and Cloclo) and Sylvie Testud (photo - the star of television drama Sagan in 2009, Best European Actress 2010 for Lourdes [trailer, film focus]) for her new feature. The film's brilliant cast also includes Nicolas Duvauchelle (Polisse [trailer, film focus]), Mélanie Thierry (The Princess of Montpensier [trailer]), Julie Ferrier (Heartbreaker [trailer]), Denis Podalydès (Granny's Funeral [trailer]), Clément Sibony (L'oiseau [trailer]), and Clotilde Hesme (3 Mondes [trailer]).

Written by the filmmaker, the screenplay tells the story of Anne (Sylvie Testud), a novelist with a lot of imagination. She is 35 years old, but still knows nothing about her past. This is because her father (Benoît Magimel) won't talk, and neither will her sister, because sometimes it's best not to know everything... After her mother dies, Anne finds old photos and letters, and decides to find out more about her parents, Michel and Léna, when they lived in Lyon in 1947. It will be the subject of her next novel. Delving into her parents' past, she soon discovers the existence of Jean, a mysterious uncle that everybody wants to forget and talks about as if he were a ghost... Little by little, she is drawn nearer to a truth that she hadn't realised she was searching for. But time is precious. Her father is ill and could very well take this secret, that for so long has kept them apart, with him to the grave. From Post-War France to France in the 1980s, Anne and her father's destinies intertwine to form a single story.

Produced by Alexandre Arcady and Diane Kurys for Alexandre Films, Pour une femme is co-produced by France 3 Cinéma, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma, and EuropaCorp (who will handle the film's distribution in France and its international sales), and has be pre-acquired by Canal+ and Ciné+. Since July 16, filming has been ongoing in the Rhône (especially in Lyon) and Ain regions, and is expected to finish mid-September.

(Translated from French)