I WANT TO TALK ABOUT DURAS BY CLAIRE SIMON
LOVE STORY - FRENCH CINEMA - LITTERATURE - WOMAN DIRECTOR
CAST
Swann Arlaud, Emmanuelle Devos
CREW
Director: Claire Simon Screenwriter: Claire Simon Producers: François d’Artemare Production Company: Les Films de l’Après-Midi World sales: Luxbox
SYNOPSIS
A man involved in a passionate relationship with a celebrated writer of 30 years his senior needs to talk. He is fascinated by her and yet he feels he just cannot go on anymore. He opens up, in an attempt to put into words the intensity of his love.
Original title: Vous ne désirez que moi Country: France Language: French Production year: 2021 Length: 95min
FESTIVALS
San Sebastian International Film Festival - Official Competition
New York Film Festival - Currents Section
Indie Memphis Film Festival - Narrative Competition
Viennale - Main Program
Mostra de Sao Paolo - International Perspective
French Film Festival UK - Panorama
Puerto Rico European Film Festival - Main Program
Mannheim Heilderberg International Film Festival - Pushing the boundaries
French Film Festival in Japan
FIFAM Amiens International Film Festival - Great Fiction Prize
IFI French Film Festival
BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Festival - Official Selection
Vilnius International Film Festival - Masters
Bari International Film & TV Festival
Rendez-Vous avec le Cinéma Français en Italie
Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival
Istanbul International Film Festival - Official Selection
Focus on French Cinema
Sicilia Queer Film Festival
Subversive Film Festival
CLAIRE SIMON
Director/Screenwriter
Claire Simon made her debut in film editing before turning to directing. She alternates between fiction films and documentaries for the cinema which are haunted by a single question: What is a story? A history of today?
Films such as Récréations andCoûte que Coûte, released in theatres, will resonate with others, as the mark of a push for documentary film in French cinema. Through her gaze, Claire Simon sublimates those around her into heroes: the little children in Récréations, the stressed-out boss in Coûte que Coûte, the young girl on fire in Ça Brûle (Directors' Fortnight), Mimi in love with women, Nathalie Baye, a family planning counsellor in Les Bureaux de Dieu (Directors' Fortnight), or the young people who attempt to enter the fortress that is the FEMIS in Le Concours (Venice Film Festival). Claire Simon has also taught at Paris 8 and Paris 7 universities and headed the Direction Department at the FEMIS.
FILMOGRAPHY
2021 –I Want To Talk About Duras
2018 –Young Solitude (Doc)
2016 –The Graduation (Doc)
2015 –The Woods Dreams Are Made Of (Doc)
2013 –Gare Du Nord (Fiction)
2013 –Human Geography (Doc)
2008 –God’s Offices (Fiction)
2006 –Ça Brule (Fiction)
2002-Mimi (Doc)
1997-Sinon, Oui (Fiction)
1995 –Al All Costs (Doc)
1992 –Recreations (Doc)
1991 –Scenes De Menages (Fiction) (Short)
1989 –Les Patients (Doc)
1986 –La Police (Fiction) (Short)
Press Quotes
The result is a fitfully fascinating two-hander.
Devos’s subtle body language and muted facial expressions are a masterclass in that most famously challenging actorly task, portraying the simple act of listening.
The emotional tension is palpable, but it is the intellectual incisiveness displayed by both sides that leaves the deepest impression
