OH LES FILLES ! – Colcoa French Film Festival in Hollywood

OH LES FILLES ! (HAUT LES FILLES)

Thursday, September 26 – Truffaut Theatre – 10:20 pm
(+ Short Film Presentation : BRAZIL)

Directed by: François Armanet
Written by: François Armanet and Bayon
Cinematography: Nicolas Bordier and Guillaume Schiffman
Film Editing: Fabrice Rouaud
Original Score: All singers listed in the credits
Produced by: Edouard De Vesinne
Cast: Françoise Hardy, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Vanessa Paradis, Camelia Jordana, Jeanne Added, Brigitte Fontaine, Lou Doillon, Imany, Christine and the Queens
International Sales: Les films du Losange

Positing the theory that rock ‘n’ roll was born, not with Elvis Presley, but with Edith Piaf, Oh les Filles!, a compilation of interviews with ten doyennes of French rock, takes us on a fascinating ride down the at-times tortured path to becoming a female rock star. These indomitable women, with careers dating from the swinging sixties to the raucous present, all take their impassioned oath to feminism for granted. Yet, they fearlessly reveal the insecurities, judgments and painful stumbling blocks they’ve had to face to break into such a blatantly male universe… and finally own it! From mod-era superstar Françoise Hardy to avant-garde icon Brigitte Fontaine, the colorful cast includes composer-singer Jeanne Added; sultry songstress Imany; actor-musician Charlotte Gainsbourg; singer Lou Doillon; and actor-singer Vanessa Paradis, who was catapulted to stardom at the tender age of 14. They all express their innate yearning for unbridled freedom and the need to unleash their own passion, rage and testosterone through song. In the end, they even come to question accepted notions of masculinity, femininity, and what being a “woman” really means. Oh les Filles! premiered as an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Writer-director François Armanet has been a journalist since 1981, serving as a writer and editor for the newspapers Libération and Le Nouvel Observateur. He is currently editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine L’Obs. Armanet has written several books, including three novels. He has cowritten, produced and directed several television programs for France 3, France 2, Canal+ and Arte. In 2002, he wrote and directed Dandy, a film adaptation of his novel La Bande du drugstore, which premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival.

Presented in association with:

Les Films du Losange