PRODUCTION / FUNDING Belgium / Canada
Filming begins on Retro Therapy by Elodie Lélu
- The Belgium-based filmmaker has just begun filming her feature debut, starring Fantine Harduin, Hélène Vincent and Olivier Gourmet
Shooting began Monday 18 October on Retro Therapy [+see also:
film review
film profile], the feature debut by Elodie Lélu, starring young Belgian actress Fantine Harduin, but also Olivier Gourmet and Hélène Vincent.
Following a first fiction short film called Leçons de conduite, awarded in Valladolid, Vancouver and Larissa, the Brittany-born, Belgium-based filmmaker Elodie Lélu directed in 2019 Lettres à Théo, adressed to dearly missed Greek director Théo Angelopoulos, who was ran over by a motorcycle on the shoot of his last film while among his team, which Elodie Lélu was a part of.
She makes the leap to feature film with Retro Therapy, which tells the story of Manon, an introverted 16-year-old who finds herself forced to live with her unbearable grandmother Yvonne, a former feminist activist who can no longer live alone. The situation gets worse when Yvonne, confused, begins to mistake Manon for her daughter. For fun, Manon will play along with Yvonne’s delusions and play the role of her mother, whom she barely knew. This is the occasion for her to discover the true story of the women in her family, and to learn, in turn, how to become one.
In the lead role, we find young Belgian actress Fantine Harduin (already seen in Happy End [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Michael Haneke
film profile] by Michael Haneke or Amin [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Philippe Faucon
film profile] by Philippe Faucon, and more recently in Adoration [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Fabrice du Welz
film profile] by Fabrice du Welz, in which she stole the show alongside the young Thomas Gioria). Also in the cast is Hélène Vincent (recently seen in another Belgian film, Isn't She Lovely [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Solange Cicurel
film profile] by Solange Cicurel, and in The Origin of the World [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laurent Lafitte
film profile] by Laurent Lafitte), who will play Yvonne, while the part of Manon’s father will be played by Belgian actor Olivier Gourmet (impressive recently in Eugénie Grandet [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Marc Dugain, and in Beasts [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Naël Marandin). The cast will be rounded up by Belgian actress Emilie Dequenne (currently filming the second film by Lukas Dhont, Close [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Eden Dambrine
interview: Lukas Dhont
interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile]).
Retro Therapy is produced by Isabelle Truc for Iota Production. The film is co-produced by Dries Phlypo and Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem for A Private View (Belgium) and Christine Falco for Camera Oscura (Canada). Filming will take place until 25 November, in the Charleroi region.
(Translated from French)
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