People Next Door 2019 / Marie Heurtin / France 2014
In the late 19th century the Larnay Institute in France takes in a deaf-blind girl called Marie whom the convent’s Catholic sisters soon brand as a “wild animal”. She doesn’t speak, she won’t walk anywhere and she is unable to integrate into her new community. Sister Marguerite, however, is not about to give up. With remarkable patience she teaches Marie tactile signing and, later on, sign language. A moving story which, to this day, even specialist journals consider a miracle.
This story was described, even in specialist journals, as something of a miracle. It unfolded in the late 19th century at Larnay convent in France, where Catholic nuns took in and cared for deaf-blind children. One of them was Marie Heurtin, a girl lacking basic communication skills; she couldn’t even walk by herself. This apparently hopeless case was taken up by Sister Marguerite, who patiently taught Marie tactile signing and sign language so that she would understand the relationship between object and gesture. Once the girl had grasped this concept, she went on to achieve incredible things. Not only did Marie become proficient in sign language, but she also mastered Braille, sewing, typewriting and other skills that were hitherto unimaginable. The film is as moving as the story itself.
Anna Kořínek
95 min / Color, DCP
Director Jean-Pierre Améris
/ Screenplay Jean-Pierre Améris, Philippe Blasband
/ Dir. of Photography Virginie Saint-Martin
/ Music Sonia Wieder-Atherton
/ Editor Anne Souriau
/ Art Director Vincent Dizien
/ Producer Denis Carot, Sophie Révil
/ Production Escazal Films
/ Cast Isabelle Carré, Ariana Rivoire, Brigitte Catillon, Noémie Churlet, Laure Duthilleul
/ Sales Indie Sales
/ Distributor CinemArt, a.s.
Jean-Pierre Améris (b. 1961 Lyon, France). Selected filmography: C’est la vie (2001), Romantics Anonymous (Les émotifs anonymes, 2010), The Man Who Laughs (L’homme qui rit, 2012), Marie’s Story (Marie Heurtin, 2014), Family for Rent (Une famille à louer, 2015)
CinemArt, a.s.
Národní 60/28, 111 21, Praha 1
Czech Republic
Phone: +420 224 949 110
E-mail: hruskova@cinemart.cz
Indie Sales
32, Rue Washington, 75008, Paris
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Phone: +33 144 830 227
E-mail: sales@indiesales.eu
Marek Jeníček
Distributor, Producer
Martin Gondre
Sales Agent
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