Picture of the movie Les Olympiades (Paris 13th District) © Shanna Besson
Jacques Audiard captures youthful effervescence in Les Olympiades (Paris 13th District)
Having been awarded the Palme d’or in 2015 for Dheepan, French filmmaker Jacques Audiard is back in Competition with Les Olympiades (Paris 13th District), his ninth feature film and a portrait of France's vibrant youth.
After a successful pitstop Stateside with his western The Sisters Brothers starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, and John C. Reilly, Jacques Audiard is back in France with a tale for our modern times and a new challenge to be fulfilled: shooting his first black-and-white movie.
Alongside screenwriter Céline Sciamma who brought us the gorgeous, fine-tuned Portrait of A Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu), and Léa Mysius, the director of the film Ava, the filmmaker returns to his old stomping ground to explore the everyday lives of Paris' thirty-somethings: their relationships, their thoughts, their concerns, and their lifestyles.
Adapted from the graphic novels by Adrian Tomine, an American artist known for his funny and melancholic illustrations in the New Yorker, Les Olympiades (Paris 13th District) recounts affairs of the heart as experienced by three women and one man in Paris' 13th arrondissement. In the Les Olympiades district, Emilie meets Camille who has fallen for Nora, who has her head turned by Amber. All are friends and sometime lovers, often both. A gang of four brought to life by Noémie Merlant, Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba, and Jehnny Beth, a breathtaking stable of talent that reflects France's up-and-coming generation of stars.
Jacques Audiard is one of France's biggest award-winning directors. After making his début in 1994 at La Semaine de la Critique with See How They Fall (Regarde les hommes tomber), he was awarded the Best Screenplay Award for A Self Made Hero (Un héros très discret) in 1996. He received the Grand Prix in 2009 for A Prophet (Un Prophète) and the Palme d’or for Dheepan in 2015.
