In front of the fireplace of the Montalembert hotel, in Paris, the customers seated do not suspect that they are witnessing a birth. Or two births exactly. That of a director, Sandrine Kiberlain, but also that of a great actress: Rebecca Marder. As enthusiastic as the other at the idea of meeting to discuss
A young girl who is well,
the first film directed by the Caesarized actress, selected for La Semaine de la critique at the last Cannes Film Festival, the two accomplices engage with enthusiasm and sincerity.
The destiny that the director retraces during the summer of 1942 is that of Irène, a 19-year-old Jewish student passionate about theater and full of life.
By choosing to approach the daily life of this Parisian during the troubled times of the Occupation, Sandrine Kiberlain, granddaughter of Polish Jews, explored a part of her family history, but also exploited her solar nature and her undeniable resilience.
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In video, "A young girl who is well", the trailer
To embody this heroine “shaped over four years”, the director trusted her instincts: Rebecca Marder immediately appeared to her as obvious.
By discovering her at the same time "clumsy and graceful, funny and moving", she knew that she held the central character of her story.
A first big role in the cinema for this 26-year-old actress who happens to be one of the most coveted talents of the moment.
Resident of the Comédie-Française (the youngest when she arrived in 2015), Rebecca Marder is expected in six films including
Simone, the journey of the century,
by Olivier Dahan, where she plays young Simone Veil.
Her charm, her naturalness and her personality combining strength and fragility set her apart from the actresses of her generation and portend a golden future.
"It's always sunny on disaster days"
Sandrine Kiberlain.
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I started from this sentence read in
Le Journal d'Hélène Berr,
which struck me a lot: "It's always sunny on days of disaster".
I wanted to talk about the good weather, the pre-tipping, just before something came to overtake the enchantment.
The film does not seek laughter or tears, it tells the story of life.
This is also what was complicated: how to tell the 19 years of a girl whose all dreams are allowed?
I carried this project for four years and my name was both an advantage and a disadvantage.
My notoriety facilitated the first contact with the decision-makers, but it was then necessary to redouble our energy to show my legitimacy as a director.
My name has been both an advantage and a disadvantageSandrine Kiberlain
Finally, I was able to convince the financiers by presenting a very clear vision of this film treated under a rather radical angle. And to be honest, I never asked myself the question of legitimacy because I never stopped myself from anything in life: I made a short film, released albums when I was not singer at all, but each time it came from a necessity of writing. My father having been a playwright, there is perhaps, seemingly nothing, a form of heredity, because from the age of 15, I read his texts in secret and I remember that they were laughing. Subsequently, I played for a year the play he had written under the pseudonym David Decca,
Le Roman de Lulu.
But writing is an ambivalent discipline: it was sometimes very laborious to write
A young girl who is doing well,
when I could suddenly feel a miraculous force that made me put down on paper exactly how I felt.
"We didn't talk about the war in our families"
SK
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My grandparents never spoke of their relatives exterminated in the camps.
They preferred to share their happy memories in Auvergne where they were hidden by the Righteous in a hotel.
My grandmother considered this period as one of the most beautiful of her life.
That's why I made a film evoking the sweet moments in Irene's life.
<p> Chiffon dress, Celine by Hedi Slimane.
L'Épi de Blé chain and ring, in yellow gold and diamonds, Chaumet.
Chanel make-up by Christophe Danchaud, with Chanel line N° 1: Revitalizing Serum with Red Camellia and Revitalizing Cream with Red Camellia N° 1, Revitalizing Foundation with Red Camellia BR22, HealthyPink Revitalizing Lip and Cheek Balm with Red Camellia, 4 Shadows Modern Glamour, Le Volume Noir mascara.
John Nollet hairstyle for Forty-One Studio-Paris.</p>
Dant Studio/H&K
Rebecca Marder.
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This period of history remains fundamental for me because all of my father's American family, a New York Jew, went through pogroms in Russia, Poland and Ukraine before landing on Ellis Island. All those who had not emigrated were deported. I learned, moreover, that a white cross had been painted on the jacket of my great-great-grandfather who landed in the United States, which meant that he was too weak to rebuild the country and his wife had turned over his coat to save him from being sent back to Poland. Subsequently, my American grandfather made the landing at Utah Beach and received two medals for his courage, but he said it was a mistake…! On the French side of my family,my great-grandfather was an early resistance fighter and one of the first to own a transmitter in France. All these personal stories are engraved in me and have necessarily influenced me.
"The theater built us"
SK
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We necessarily tell a lot about ourselves when we write.
However, like Irene, I had the impression of being born at 19 years old.
Like her, I freed myself from a loving family to start living, thanks in particular to the theatre.
I think acting saved me because I was a bit transparent and passive in life.
Me, I was watching.
When I entered the conservatory and started to embody the heroines of Marivaux or La Bélise des
Femmes savantes,
the texts came to nourish me, fill me, blossom.
The theater made me see other worlds and 'deprotected' me a little: it taught me a lot about myself and I started to exist by filling myself with roles.
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine wears a Celine t-shirt by Hedi Slimane.
Bee My Love rings in pink gold, white gold, yellow gold and diamonds, Chaumet.
Personal bracelet.
Rebecca is wearing a Majestic Filatures t-shirt.
Extrait de Camélia earring and ring, Chanel Joaillerie.
Dant Studio/H&K
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Chiffon dress and belt, Celine by Hedi Slimane.
Set of Bee My Love rings, in pink gold, white gold, yellow gold and diamonds, Chaumet.
Personal chain bracelet.
Dant Studio/H&K
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine wears a Celine t-shirt by Hedi Slimane.
Bee My Love rings in pink gold, white gold, yellow gold and diamonds, Chaumet.
Personal bracelet.
Rebecca is wearing a Majestic Filatures t-shirt.
Extrait de Camélia earring and ring, Chanel Joaillerie.
Dant Studio/H&K
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Silk blouse, Chanel.
Extrait de Camélia earrings, in pink gold, Chanel Joaillerie.
Chanel make-up by Christophe Danchaud, with Chanel line N° 1: Revitalizing Serum with Red Camellia and Revitalizing Cream with Red Camellia N° 1, Revitalizing Foundation with Red Camellia B20, Revitalizing Lip and Cheek Balm with Red Camellia Lily Rosewood, The 4 Clair Obscur Shadows, Le Volume Noir mascara.
Dant Studio/H&K
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
Sandrine Kiberlain and Rebecca Marder
See the slideshow
11 pictures
RM-
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I also have the impression that the theater built me. My seven years at the Comédie-Française forged a discipline in me. It's a chance to be able to play the great texts with very thorough and fulfilling rehearsal work. But in the cinema, a role like that of Irene is just as exciting. I am aware of the chance that I have to play characters having, like her, incredible crossings, which offer a wide range of play, because I have already happened to play "the shy young girl n ° 3" , whose only response was: “Hi, how are you?”. Cinema can therefore be just as founding as theatre, but it is theater that has strengthened my acting and taught me a more artisanal facet of the profession. Furthermore, I like this relationship to the public and to time: I find it valuable to tell myself that for two and a half hours,I'm not available to anyone and the stage is the only place in the world where nothing can reach me. The actors and the public are together to listen to the same text and I find it wonderful to take this time together.
"It's good that the film comes out in these turbulent times"
SK
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A young girl who is well
shows all that one can deprive someone. The idea is to highlight what is best in life and of which dangerous madmen deprive some. Things are said without showing them, I let the viewer's imagination do its job. Knowing that this film was born from themes that have never left me and still haunt me, namely, intolerance and injustice, and that these subjects are obviously still relevant, I find it good that the film is coming out in these turbulent times. We feel that our time is troubled and that we don't know how far it can go, but I am carried by a life force, probably inherited from my family who recovered from the worst. And as long as we're not dead, I have the impression that we can recover from everything...
RM
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Looking behind me, I say to myself that I am finally happy with certain trials that have happened to me - and that I prefer to keep for myself - because I feel shielded today.
I know that I can convey a somewhat fragile image but I feel very strong.
It's a chance at 26, especially at a time when we are beset by ecological, political, pandemic issues...
<p>Wool blazer, Chanel.
Extrait de Camélia convertible ring, in pink gold and diamonds, Chanel Joaillerie, Wolford tights, JM Weston loafers.
</p>
Dant Studio/H&K
"Rebecca hasn't finished working"
SK
- Rebecca is passionate and she's inspiring so I think she's not done working… But she's ready for it!
And while filming her, and the whole gang of young people in the film, I was very moved because I saw myself starting again.
RM
- I am very happy because a magnificent year is on the horizon.
I feel a bit high and carried by intense work energy.
Une fille qui va bien,
by Sandrine Kiberlain with Rebecca Marder, Anthony Bajon, André Marcon, Françoise Widhoff… Released on January 26.
The editorial staff advises you
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