14/06/2006

This Girl is Mine ( L'enfant d'une autre), the third feature by French director Virginie Wagon, will participate alongside 14 other titles in official competition at the 41st Karlovy Vary Festival (June 30-July 8). The 41 year-old director made her first short in 1995 (Grandir, lit. "Growing Up") and then went on to co-script two films by Erick Zonca – The Dreamlife of Angels in 1998 and The Little Thief in 1999.

Selected at the 2000 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight for her debut feature (Le secret), in 2003 she made Sous mes yeux for the Masculine/Feminine collection of the French/German broadcaster Arte.

She is once again part of Arte Fiction, as well as the mothers/daughters (mères/filles) collection, with This Girl is Mine, produced by Fabienne Servan-Schreiber for Cinétévé.

Starring Catherine Jacob, the film recounts the story of Maud, an aggressive, arrogant woman who looks impeccable in her designer clothes and Chanel sunglasses. Never having recovered from the disappearance of her daughter, she buries herself in her work, going from one hotel to another and treating her staff badly, calling herself a "rich boss and an alcoholic in need of a good fuck". But this heart of stone who thinks that money is the be all and end all gradually discovers the role of mother when she meets Zita and Johana. Awkward in love, she is finally obliged to make a painful choice.

"I found it interesting to deal with a very topical debate on adoption: who is the real mother? The one who brings up a child or the one who created it?" asks the director. "It’s about depicting a drama, but under no circumstances did I want to stoop to pathos. I therefore chose a lighter tone, borrowing certain characteristics from comedy. I wanted the audience to sway between laugh and tears, with a growing feeling of unease".

The film will be screened at Karlovy Vary on July 4 and 5 and television viewers will be able to see it on Arte at 8:40 pm on Friday, June 16.

(Translated from French)