Four, five years ago I fled my home in a sort of escape from something that was suffocating me. I sought refuge with two girlfriends who were living together and stayed for several months… That’s when I came up with the idea of making a film where I would be among women in an apartment in an atmosphere of complete freedom, both in terms of our bodies and from oppression outside… What helps me [and] my friends to escape from past trauma is humor, the absurd. It’s a way of keeping our heads above water. I also wanted there to be vulgarity. There’s something in vulgarity that is very true, very sincere, and intimate. — Noémie Merlant*
With their original story THE BALCONETTES, filmmakers Noémie Merlant and Céline Sciamma have conjured the perfect comedic horror confection for a Halloween night screening at The American French Film Festival (TAFFF).
Set in Marseille during a particularly hot summer and starring Souheila Yacoub, Sanda Codreanu, and Merlant—along with Lucas Bravo as a photographer who lives across the way—THE BALCONETTES delights and startles with its creative blend of farce, gender-politics, and full blown gore.
Co-written by Merlant and Sciamma and directed by Merlant, the TAFFF screening will be followed by a conversation with Codreanu. See info and links below for details.
THE BALCONETTES
Directed by Noémie Merlant
The American French Film Festival
Thursday, October 31, at 8:15 pm
Directors Guild of America
7920 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles
theamericanfrenchfilmfestival.org/the-balconettes
*Melanie Goodfellow, “Noémie Merlant Says Gory Sisterhood Tale The Balconettes Was Sparked By Her Experiences With ‘Microaggressions, Major Aggressions And Even Physical Violence,’” Deadline, May 17, 2024.
deadline.com/2024/noemie-merlant-interview-the-balconettes
Noémie Merlant, The Balconettes / Les Femmes au balcon (2024), from top: Sanda Codreanu (left), Souheila Yacoub, and Noémie Merlant; Lucas Bravo, Merlant, and Codreanu; Codreanu, Yacoub, and Merlant; Les Femmes au balcon French poster; Merlant, Codreanu, and Yacoub; Codreanu, Merlant, and Yacoub.
Images courtesy and © the filmmakers, Nord-Ouest, Tandem, and The Forge.
