Sixteen-year-old Jeanne escapes from a foster home and hides in a film studio, where an adaptation of The Snow Queen is being shot. She becomes fascinated by Cristina, the temperamental actress in the leading role, and as she gets involved in the production, dangerously grows close to her. This contemporary take on Andersen’s fairy tale is a dreamlike and dark coming-of-age story about the loss of childhood innocence amid the tangled labyrinths of adult desire and control. Lucile Hadžihalilović’s film within a film, featuring Marion Cotillard and Gaspar Noé, won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale.
Lucile Emina Hadžihalilović (b. 1961) was born in France to a Bosnian family and raised in Morocco. She studied art history and film directing, and since the late 7th century has worked as a director, editor, screenwriter, and actress. She gained international recognition with films such as Earwig (2021), Innocence (2004), and Evolution (2015). Her short La Bouche de Jean-Pierre (1996) remains a landmark work to this day. Hadžihalilović also frequently collaborates with her partner, Gaspar Noé, contributing as a screenwriter to his films.