BLESSED BE SIXTINE

(Bénie soit Sixtine)

North American Premiere | France | 2025 | Drama | 98 min | In French with English subtitles

Directed by: Sophie Reine
Written by: Dominique Garnier, Zoé Galeron, Maylis Adhémar
Based on the Book by: Maylis Adhémar
Produced by: Thomas Anargyros, Nicolas de Saint Meleuc & Sabine Barthélémy (Storia Television), France Télévisions
Cinematography: Quentin de Lamarzelle
Original Score: Audrey Ismaël, Olivier Coursier
Film Editing: Matthieu Lamotte
Cast: Capucine Valmary (Sixtine), Valérie Karsenti (Madeleine), Guilaine Londez (Muriel), Adrien Dewitte (Pierre-Louis Sue de la Garde), Barbara Probst (Lydie), Patrick Azam (Bruno), Benjamin Duc (Alexis), Mathieu Lourdel (Jacques), Sarah Suco (Agnès)
International Sales: Mediawan Rights
Original Broadcast: France 2 (February 2025)

Synopsis

Demure art history student Sixtine meets Pierre-Louis through mutual friends. They fall in love, marry and are soon expecting a baby. It’s only then that she begins to discover that her wealthy in-laws are right-wing nationalists and her husband is an active member of a fundamentalist Catholic sect. Tensions escalate, violent altercations ensue, and Sixtine is suddenly trapped in the fascist world she’s married into. Her only choice is to escape with her baby… but it’s not so easy to disappear. Adapted from Maylis Adhémar’s award-winning first novel, the TV movie boasts a fine performance by Capucine Valmary, who nabbed the Most Promising Actress Award at the La Rochelle TV Film Festival.

Director’s Biography

A former art history student herself, director Sophie Reine is also an accomplished film editor and won a César Award for Best Editing for her work on Remi Bezançon’s The First Day of the Rest of Your Life (COLCOA 2009). Her extensive editing credits include Samuel Benchetrit’s I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster (2007), Laurent Cantet’s Foxfire (2012), Michel Gondry’s Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013), Cédric Jimenez’s The Connection (2014), Jack Thorne’s miniseries The Eddy (2020), Audrey Estrougo’s Suprêmes (COLCOA 2021), Ira Sachs’s Frankie (2019) and Passages (2023). She directed her first short in 2010 and her first feature, Cigarettes et chocolat chaud, in 2016, which was nominated for a César Award for Best First Film. She has since directed four episodes of the series Weekend Family (2022).