WILL IT SNOW FOR CHRISTMAS? /
Y-aura-t-il de la neige à Noël?
World Premiere (restored version) • Drama • France, 2014
DCP • 1.66 • Dolby A • Color • 90 min
Directed by: Sandrine Veysset
Written by: Antoinette de Robien, Sandrine Veysset
Cinematography: Hélène Louvart
Film Editing: Nelly Quettier
Original Score: Henri Ancilotti
Produced by: Humbert Balsan
Cast: Dominique Reymond (La mère), Daniel Duval (Le père), Jessica Martinez (Jeanne), Alexandre Roger (Bruno), Xavier Colonna (Pierrot)
International Sales: Carlotta Films
US Distributor: Carlotta Films US • carlottafilms-us.com
US release date: December 2015
This austere but moving tale of rural life blends the symbolic power of fable with an authenticity usually associated with documentary. The inviting beauty of the south of France belies the struggles of a nameless unwed mother and her seven illegitimate children, who lead a meager existence working vegetable fields owned by their harsh, bullying father. Most of their crops go to support the father’s legitimate family, who reside in a nearby estate. Up to now, a powerful erotic bond between the father and the mother has been the glue of this apparently mutual and consenting arrangement. But with that attraction fading, the mother has begun to feel trapped in a hopeless situation. So too, the father has begun to ease the guilt he feels for betraying his legitimate family by increasing his cruelty toward his illegitimate sons and daughters. When the father announces that he will not be spending Christmas with them, the mother makes a desperate decision. COLCOA is pleased to debut this digitally restored version to mark the 20th anniversary of the film’s release.
Widely acclaimed in France, this first feature of writer/director Sandrine Veysset won the Best First Film César at home and the 1996 International Critic’s prize in the Venice Film Festival. In Veysset’s own words, her intensely personal and autobiographical film was, “simply a tribute to the art of being a mother and that perhaps is what makes it universal, why it comes across.” After landing a job as the driver of director Léos Carax, Veysset worked in the art department of film production before writing her first script, which she eventually developed, along with co-writer Antoinette de Robien, into Will It Snow For Christmas? Her third film Martha…Martha (2001) opened Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight, where it won the Critic’s Prize. Most recently Veysset has found success directing episodic television in France.
Quotes:
“A hymn to the seasons, a melancholy Christmas carol.”
– Joan Dupont NEW YORK TIMES
“Reymond gives a terrific, nuanced performance as a mother who sees her children as her curse and only blessing.”
– Scott Tobias A.V. CLUB
