SIDONIE AU JAPON / SIDONIE IN JAPAN

Japan, nowadays. Sidonie Perceval, an established French writer, is mourning her deceased husband. Invited to Japan for the reedition of her first book, she is welcomed by her local editor who takes her to Kyoto, the city of shrines and temples. As they travel together through the Japanese spring blossoms, she slowly opens up to him. But the ghost of her husband follows Sidonie: she will have to finally let go of the past to let herself love again.

ELIS ŽIRA / ÉLISE GIRARD

Élise Girard is a French director living in Paris. A lifelong cinema enthusiast, she started out as a press attaché for Cinémas Action before becoming a director. After two documentaries, her first feature, Belleville-Tokyo (2011), was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, as was Strange Birds (2016), presented at the Berlinale Forum. For Sidonie in Japan (2023) Girard benefited from the French Institute’s Louis Lumière grant, which enabled her to reside in Kyoto in 2017.

 

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All you need to make a movie is Isabelle Huppert (...) Clever and thoughtful.

Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporte