LA SYNDICALISTE

West Coast Premiere | France, Germany | 2023 | Drama, Thriller | 121 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Jean-Paul Salomé
Written by: Fadette Drouard, Jean-Paul Salomé
Based on the book by: Caroline Michel-Aguirre
Produced by: Bertrand Faivre, Vincent Gadelle (Le Bureau Films), Jean-Paul Salomé (Restons Groupés Productions), Ronald Chammah (Les Films du Camélia), Bettina Brokemper (Heitman Films), France 2 Cinéma
Cinematography: Julien Hirsch
Film Editing: Valérie Deseine, Aïn Varet
Original Score: Bruno Coulais
Cast: Isabelle Huppert (Maureen Kearney), Grégory Gadebois (Gilles Hugo), Yvan Attal (Luc Oursel), François Xavier-Demaison (Jean-Pierre Bachmann), Pierre Deladonchamps (Chief warrant officer Brémont), Marina Foïs (Anne Lauvergeon)
International Sales: The Bureau Sales
U.S. Distributor: Kino Lorber
U.S. Release date : TBA

Based on investigative journalist Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s non-fiction book of the same name, Jean-Paul Salomé‘s political thriller La Syndicaliste recounts the true story of whistleblower Maureen Kearney, former union organizer at the multinational nuclear powerhouse Areva. Investigating management’s shady double-dealings with China, and struggling to save the jobs of more than 50,000 workers, Kearney single-handedly takes on government and industry leaders alike. Ruffling too many upper-echelon feathers, she soon begins receiving threats, is brutally assaulted in her own home, and is then accused of faking her own rape. That’s when her #MeToo odyssey really begins…

Writer-director Jean-Paul Salomé began his film career as assistant to director Claude Lelouch on his 1981 film Bolero. He went on to direct two documentaries, L’Heure d’aimer (1983) and La Petite Commission (1984). After making his first TV movie, Crimes et Jardins (1991), he directed the feature film Girls with Guns (1993), which won a Special Jury Prize at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier. His subsequent features include Tourist Trap (1998); Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre (2000); Arsène Lupin (COLCOA 2005); Female Agents (COLCOA 2007); The Chameleon (2010); and Playing Dead (2013). His 2020 comedy Mama Weed, also starring a brilliant Isabelle Huppert, was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay César and won the Women Film Critics Circle Best Kept Secret Award for Overlooked Challenging Gems. La Syndicaliste had its world premiere at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival and will be released in the U.S. by Kino Lorber later this year.