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PRODUCTION France

Telerman explores family neuroses in La Faute des Mères

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Having first attracted attention at the box office in 2005 with her debut feature Thirty-Five Something [+see also:
trailer
interview: Cécile Telerman
film profile
]
(1.44m admissions), Cécile Telerman yesterday finished shooting in Paris on her second film, La Faute des Mères (“The Mothers’ Fault”). This ensemble film – which centres on a family on the brink of madness – stars Mathilde Seigner, Charlotte Rampling, Pascal Elbé, Olivier Marchal, Sophie Cattani and Patrick Chesnais.

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Co-written by the director and Jérôme Soubeyrand, the film revolves around the Celliers, an ordinary family who happen to be completely crazy. Mady (Rampling), a radiant 60-year-old mother and housewife, spends her time saying terrible things about her two daughters and husband, Henry, (Chesnais), a former company manager who has been strangely regressing since his retirement.

The eldest brother, Antoine (Elbé), is a company director incapable of running a business, suffering bankruptcy after bankruptcy, while his sister Alice (Seigner), between two abortions, compulsively paints depressive and drug-addicted madonnas. Meanwhile, Annabelle (Cattani) – a nurse in an intensive care unit – tries desperately to save her nearest and dearest by reading cards to predict their future.

But, feeling depressed one evening, Alice "by chance" encounters Jacques (Marchal), a solitary and disillusioned policeman, who upsets the well-oiled cogs of family neuroses. Everything comes to a head...for better or for worse.

Produced by Yann Gilbert for La Mouche du Coche (winner of the 2007 IFCIC Award for a newly-created independent production company), La Faute des Mères has a budget of €8.75m. This includes co-production backing from Films de la Greluche, TF1 Films Production and StudioCanal.

Having kicked off on May 19, the shoot lasted 52 days and took place mainly in Paris and the surrounding region, as well as one week in Bordeaux at the start of July. Studio Canal – who will release the film domestically in the first half of 2009 – are also handling international sales.

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(Translated from French)

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