SYNOPSIS
Sibylle, Corinne, and Georgette are sisters growing up in Lyon in the early 1970’s, raised by their single Italian mother (Casar). Sibylle (Duthion) is the only blonde in her family, a physical trait she owes to the father who abandoned them. Struggling with an increasing sense of estrangement, she yearns for the day when she might meet her French father. Cutting back and forth between Adult Sybille’s (Testud) present-day and the years of her childhood, the film narrates delicately her difficult process of coming to terms with parental abandonment. |
CRITICS/QUOTES
Press reviews:
Variety: “Reminiscent of blissful youth films by Jean Eustache and Victor Erice, "Sisters" is a very French (in a good way) piece of art house fare”.
Le Monde : « This ordinary story is handled with careful sensuality (…) rendering it immediately evocative, lovely to watch and gently touching. »
Le Parisien : “Eleanore Faucher’s adaptation of Sylvie Testud’s wonderful autobiographical novel (…) is an absolute gem.”
AWARDS
Sylvie Testud: Awards and Distinctions
1997 : Best actress award at the German Awards for the film Au-delà du silence by Caroline Link .
2000 : Michel-Simon prize for Karnaval by Thomas Vincent
Césars 2000 : Nomination for Most promising actress César for Karnaval
Césars 2001 : Wins Most promising actress for Les Blessures assassines by Jean-Pierre Denis
Césars 2004 : Wins Best actress for Stupeur et tremblements by Alain Corneau
2004 : Prix Lumière for Best Actress, Étoile d'or for Best Female Leading Role for Stupeur et tremblements by Alain Corneau
2008 : Prix des lecteurs of the collection Le Livre de Poche for her novel Gamines
2009 : Globe de cristal for best actress for Sagan by Diane Kurys
Césars 2009 : Nomination for Best actress César for Sagan
2009 : Decorated as a knight of the National Order of Merit
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BIO/FILMOGRAPHY
Sylvie Testud’s biography
Sylvie Testud was born January 17, 1971 and grew up in La Croix-Rousse, a neighborhood of Lyon with many Portuguese, Spanish and Italian immigrant families ; her mother herself had immigrated from Italy in the 1960’s and married a Frenchman who abandoned their family when Sylvie was only two years old. At the age of 14, upon seeing Charlotte Gainsbourg in Claude Miller’s L'Effrontée and intensely identifying with her character, she enrolled in drama classes in Lyon. She then moved to Paris in 1989, to study at the Conservatoire (CNSAD) and began appearing in small roles in the early 1990’s. In 2001, she starred in Les Sœurs Papin, (The Murderous Maids) and was awarded the César for Most Promising Actress for her portrayal of Christine Papin, who along with her sister made headlines in 1933 after the murder of their employer’s wife and daughter. In 2003, she published an autobiographical account of her everyday life as an actress entitled Il n'y a pas beaucoup d'étoiles ce soir. In 2004, she starred in the adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s Stupeur et tremblements, earning unanimous praise and winning a César and a Prix Lumière for best actress in 2004. She starred in 2007's two-time Academy Award winning filmLa vie en Rose, playing Edith Piaf's best friend Momone. In the 2008 film Sagan, she portrayed the iconic French writer Françoise Sagan and was again nominated for the César for best actress. Gamines is the adaptation of her 2006 semi-autobiographical eponymous novel, a half chronicle/half reminiscence of her childhood in Lyon which fictionalizes a meeting with her absent father.
Selective filmography
Mumu de Joël Séria (2010)
Louise Michel (2010)
Avant l'aube (2010)
The Round Up (2010)
Vengeance (2009)
Le Bonheur de Pierre (2009)
Je ne dis pas non (2009)
Gamines (2009)
Lucky Luke (2009)
Sagan (2008)
Ce que mes yeux ont vu (2007)
Mange, ceci est mon corps (2007)
La France (2007)
La Môme (La Vie en Rose in English) (2007)
L'Héritage (2006)
La Vie est à nous! (2005)
Les Mots bleus (2005)
Victoire (2004)
Cause toujours! (2004)
Tout pour l'oseille (2004) |
Demain on déménage (2004)
Dédales (2003)
Filles uniques (2003)
Stupeur et tremblements (Fear and Trembling in English) (2003)
Vivre me tue (2002)
Aime ton père (2002)
Tangos volés (2002)
Les Femmes... ou les enfants d'abord (2002)
Un moment de bonheur (2002)
Jedermanns Fest (2002)
Les Blessures assassines (2000)
Sade (2000)
La Captive (2000)
Karnaval (1999)
Love, etc. (1996)
Le Plus bel âge... (1995)
L'Histoire du garçon qui voulait qu'on l'embrasse (1994) |
Novels
Gamines (2006)
Le ciel t'aidera (2005)
Il n'y a pas beaucoup d'étoiles ce soir (2003)
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