Alice Winocour (Proxima) is in Cannes with a Directors’ Fortnight film Paris Memories which follows a woman recovering from physical and mental trauma.
On a Saturday in the fall, Mia (Virginie Efira) is caught up in a terrorist attack while visiting a Parisian bistro. Three months later, she’s still trying to pick up the pieces of her life, and only remembers fragments of the incident. Trying to recover those lost memories, Mia decides to dig deep to rediscover the person she once was and the city she loves.
In the Deadline Studio at Cannes, Winocour spoke about the 2015 terrorist attack in Paris and how her film is about resilience, connection, and community.
“The film is about resilience and resilient people healing themselves,” said the director. “This attack was like a black hole sucking up the light.” She wanted to create a movie that is more about life than death. Throughout the film there are scenes of people holding hands to show that the cities and its people are in solidarity and working on rebuilding their lives together. She was able to go on forums and researched the different perspectives of people involved directly and indirectly with the attack.
“I discovered many things that were super moving and fascinating because it’s a whole community healing together with the idea you can’t recover by yourself. It was something really strong, and what I wanted to represent in the film.”
Take a look at the full interview with Alice Winocour as she talks about making Paris Memories and how the attacks hit way close to home.