PEARL
O.V. in English and French subtitled in Spanish and English
Muscle, sweat, sacrifice. It’s 72 hours before the bodybuilding world championship, for which Lea Pearl has trained very hard under the tough hand of her trainer (Peter Mullan), when her ex-partner appears, bringing with him their son, 6 years old. Lea hasn’t seen the boy for four years. The world of female bodybuilding (with its visual fascination, its challenges to the body and to the idea of femininity) overlaps with melodrama at the hand of Elsa Amiel, in her debut after being assistant director to Bertran Bonello., Noémie Lvovsky and Mathieu Amalric.
Direction: Elsa Amiel
Script: Elsa Amiel, Laurent Larivière
Cinematography: Colin Lévêque
Editing: Sylvie Lager, Caroline Detournay Music: Fred Avril
Sound: Marc Von Stürler
Cast: Julia Föry, Peter Mullan, Arieh Worthalter, Vidal Arzoni, Agata Buzek
Production: Bruno Nahon, Caroline Nataf, Lionel Baier
Production Company: Unité de Production, Bande à Part Films
Elsa Amiel
She was born in 1979 in Paris, France. She has had an extensive career as an assistant director, during which she worked with directors such as Raoul Ruiz, Mathieu Amalric, Bertrand Bonnello and Noémie Lvovsky, among others. She has also worked on various productions as an actress. She has directed short films such as Faccia d’Angelo (2007) and Ailleurs seulement (2011). Pearl, her first film, premiered at the Venice Festival in 2018.