In cinemas from Wednesday April 27, 2016
Starring Géraldine Pailhas, Luc Picard, Marcel Sabourin, Dorothée Berryman, Raymond Cloutier
Produced by The French Connection, EMA Film Inc. & Sister Productions
Set in Montreal, the film’s heroine is Hannah, a classical music teacher in her forties. With her husband Daniel, a pianist, she is in charge of a choir specializing in turn-of-the-20th-century French synagogal songs. She leads this vocal group with enthusiasm. But the singer’s determination begins to be tested when subsidies dwindle. One day, a sensitive but particularly gifted girl arrives. Abigail’s arrival motivates Hannah to continue her activities. All the more so when Samuel, her former teacher, arrives in Montreal. He shows her an old score that had been lost, and she begins to revive it.
The European Institute of Jewish Music and its work in safeguarding and disseminating Jewish musical heritage served as a model for the director of this film. The title of the film itself is a reference to the composer Fernand Halphen (1872-1917) (1872-1917), most of whose works are preserved by the IEMJ.
Listen to the interview with Raphaël Nadjari
Listen to Hervé Roten’s interview on the IEMJ’s work
Trailer for the film “Mobile Etoile” directed by Raphaël Nadjari (France, 2016)
