CORPORATE

 

North American Premiere • Drama, Thriller • France, 2017

DCP • 1.85 • Dolby 5.1 • Color • 95 min

Directed by: Nicolas Silhol

Written by: Nicolas Silhol, Nicolas Fleureau

Cinematography: Nicolas Gaurin

Film Editing: Florence Bresson

Original Score: Alexandre Saada, Fabien Kourtzer

Produced by: Jean-Christophe Reymond, Amaury Ovise (Kazak Productions), France 3 - Rhône-Alpes Auvergne

Cast: Céline Sallette (Emilie Tesson-Hansen), Lambert Wilson (Stéphane Froncart),

Stéphane De Groodt (Vincent), Violaine Fumeau (Marie Borrel), Alice de Lencquesaing (Sophie)

International Sales: Indie Sales Company

 

This tightrope thriller takes a deep dive into the murky waters of corporate hierarchy to expose a high stakes game where the profit motive is eclipsed only by the prime directive: saving your own skin. Céline Sallette plays it cool as Emilie Tesson-Hansen, a woman who knows the rules of the game. As the head of Human Resources of a major conglomerate, she has mastered a calibrated femininity to match the ruthlessness and cold ambition expected from the higher-ups. When executive Stéphane Froncart (Lambert Wilson) devises a secret cost-cutting plan, he knows he can count on Emilie to implement it. What he doesn’t count on are the deadly consequences, and the resulting formal investigation into company practices launched by labor inspector Marie Borrel. Emilie recognizes herself in Marie, but where Emilie is guarded, Marie is spontaneous, even provocative. This spurs Emilie to question her role as a good company soldier, but as Stéphane tries to direct Marie’s probe in Emilie’s direction, she is torn between the welfare of her fellow employees and the prime directive.

 

 

This is the debut feature of writer/director Nicolas Silhol, who was first noticed for his 2009 short Tous les enfants s'appellent Dominique, winner of the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival in Toronto, and Love Thyself, which screened in the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2010. The starting point for the story was a rash of suicides at France Telecom that scandalized Paris, but the social ramifications of the business world, especially the rigid hierarchies, always fascinated Sihol -- stemming from his father, who teaches at a business school and consults in Human Resources. Silhol developed the screenplay with newcomer Nicolas Fleureau.