France

For years, the French iconoclast Bruno Dumont stood for strict, purified cinema about social or religious issues. Very occasionally, he took a turn towards slapstick, as with the series “P'tit Quinquin”. For the gripping tragicomedy France, Dumont sought out the comic side of Léa Seydoux as the title character France, a top journalist so typical to French TV. She is a diva, who has a selfie taken everywhere she goes - from cafés to war zones. When she hits a poor man in a car accident, her bubble bursts. She quits her job and retreats to a spa, which doesn't offer the peace she'd dreamed of. Dumont mercilessly portrays a disillusioned woman on screen, who is sucked into a media machine that fictionalises reality. He not only questions the French media, but also French society.

Flagey, Film Fest Gent