Claude Barras-produced new short ‘The Cannonball Woman’ to premiere in Switzerland
The Cannonball Woman (Dir. Albertine Zullo & David Toutevoix)
Switzerland’s Locarno International Film Festival will play host to the world premiere of The Cannonball Woman (La femme canon), a new short produced by Claude Barras (My Life as a Courgette) of Hélium Films (Switzerland) alongside Jérôme Duc-Maugé, Marianne Chazelas and Maxime Fossier of Parmi les lucioles Films (France) as well as Maral Mohammadian and Michael Fukushima of the National Film Board of Canada in collaboration with RTS Radio Télévision Suisse.
The film, whose inclusion as part of Locarno’s official selection will see it competing for the Pardi di domani award for short/medium-length Swiss films, marks the latest of several short film outings between Claude Barras and the NFB, following his prior shorts Sainte Barbe (2007) and Land of the Heads (2009), co-directed with Cédric Louis.
The Cannonball Woman (Dir. Albertine Zullo & David Toutevoix)
The Cannonball Woman sees the directorial team of award-winning, Swiss-born artist/illustrator Albertine Zullo and Helium’s David Toutevoix – whose prior DOP credits include My Life as a Courgette and Renato Berta’s Max & Co – take the reins for the first time.
Madeleine the Cannonball Woman and her husband are carnies. Their lives, like their show, seem to be perfectly under control. But in reality, Madeleine is unhappy and wants to break out of her routine. Without saying a word, she leaves her husband and becomes the Bearded Lady. Time passes, but their love for each other does not die.
This year’s Locarno International Film Festival runs from August 2nd to 12th