Picture of the movie Little Joe © COOP99, The Bureau, Essential Films / Martin Gschlacht
Little Joe, a genetically modified film
Having presented three of her feature films in Un Certain Regard and been a member of the Jury twice, the Austrian director Jessica Hausner enters the Competition with Little Joe, a fantasy drama in which the characters are faced with strange changes after the creation of a genetically modified plant.
Having made her first appearance in Cannes in 1999 with Inter-view, the final-year at university film, for which she picked up a special mention from the Cinéfondation jury, Jessica Hausner has never missed a Festival de Cannes. In 2001, she was honoured by Un Certain Regard for her Lovely Rita, in which she took a radical look at the violence inherent in Austrian society. She was then selected twice for Hotel (2004) and Amour Fou (Mad Love, 2014), before graduating to the Competition with Little Joe, her first English-language film.
Little Joe tells the story of Alice, a single mother and plant geneticist who works for a company specialising in the development of new plant species. The flower she creates stands out for its therapeutic potential – it is designed to make people happier. So she breaks the rules and offers one of these plants nicknamed "Little Joe" to her son. She realises that the plant seems able to influence the personalities of people around her. Suddenly, everything that once seemed familiar now appears enigmatic.
With Little Joe, Hausner plunges into the science-fiction genre, exploring the maternal bond, our understanding of others and the notion of identity, through ambiguous scenes which constantly raise questions for the spectator around the intentions and integrity of the protagonists. In this sense, the film raises the question of the side effects of a genetically modified product, a subject "linked to a strange raising of awareness whereby even the scientists are sometimes hypothesising without having any real certainties," says the director.
