Madame

Madame
Human Rights Competition
Stéphane Riethauser
Switzerland
2019
94min
French

Madame takes us on an intimate journey where Caroline, a flamboyant 90-year-old grandmother and her filmmaker grandson Stéphane explore the development and transmission of gender identity in a patriarchal environment. Promised to a domestic life in the 1920s, Caroline frees herself from the clutches of a forced marriage and becomes a successful businesswoman, defying the social rules of her time. In parallel, Stéphane struggles to play the role everyone expects in his Swiss bourgeois family, until the day he comes out of the closet and sets off on a crusade against homophobia and sexism. A family saga based on private archive footage, the film offers a dialog between this extravagant matriarch and her gay grandson, challenging the taboos of gender and sexuality.

Projections: 
11.15. Friday 15:30
Művész - Bunuel
English Subtitle & Hungarian Simultaneous Translation
11.16. Saturday 18:45
Toldi - Small Hall
English Subtitle & Hungarian Simultaneous Translation
Co-producer: 
Stéphane Riethauser
Editor: 
Stéphane Riethauser
Luc Riethauser
Scriptwriter: 
Lambda Prod
Music: 
Martin Stricker
Distribution info: 
Sweet Spot Docs, Nevena Milašinović, nevena@sweetspotdocs.com, Ch. de Chenalettaz 89 1807 Blonay Switzerland, , + 387 65 373 261
Festivals: 
Visions du Réel 2019 - World premiere
Locarno 2019 - in the section Panorama Suisse
Pink Apple Zurich 2019
Awards: 
Documenta Madrid 2019 - International Competition Jury Prize