ROBUST (ROBUSTE)

Saturday, November 6 – Truffaut Theatre – 1:35 pm
(Screening ends at 3:20 pm)
+ Short Film Presentation: PROUD OF MY SON

Presented in Association with:

Indie Sales,
France Televisions,
Women In Film

Directed by: Constance Meyer
Written by: Constance Meyer, Marcia Romano
Produced by: Isabelle Madelaine (Dharamsala)
Cinematography: Simon Beaufils
Film Editing: Anita Roth
Original Score: Babx
Cast: Gérard Depardieu (Georges), Déborah Lukumuena (Aissa), Lucas Mortier (Eddy), Megan Northam (Cosmina), Florence Janas (Adeline)
International Sales: Indie Sales

Divines breakout star Déborah Lukumuena not only holds her own opposite the larger-than-life Gérard Depardieu, but dazzles in this bewitching pas de deux about Georges, an aging movie star, and Aïssa, an aspiring female wrestler filling in as his seemingly round-the-clock driver/bodyguard/personal assistant. As cantankerous as he is lonely, Georges is more than a handful and, at times, quite hilarious. But Aïssa’s self-possessed calm brings a quiet elegance to this story of two solitary souls as they navigate strikingly different paths — one fresh-faced and eager, the other a veritable legend closer to the end of his journey. Yet the chemistry between them, in this astonishingly assured first feature, is absolutely riveting from the very first shot to the last.

Co-writer/director Constance Meyer is a graduate of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she directed her first short films. Rhapsody (2016) was selected by the Clermont-Ferrand and Locarno Film Festivals, winning several awards. That was followed by La Belle Affaire (2018). Both shorts starred Gérard Depardieu. In 2018, she directed Private Eye as part of the Canal+ Polar collection. Robust, her first feature, premiered in the International Critics’ Week parallel section of 2021 Cannes Film Festival.