For her debut feature, “Love Letters“, at the Cannes’ Semaine De la Critique, Alice Douard chose Canadian actress (and director) Monia Chokri and Ella Rumpf.
Set in 2014, the film tells the story of Celine (Rumpf) who’s about to have a child with her wife who’s pregnant but, in order to be recognized as her daughter legal parent, she has to undergo scrutiny and paperwork to officially adopt.
Love letters is inspired by Alice Douard’s real story with her wife so, as Rumpf confirms, the journey the couple has to embark in the film, is a pretty detailed and emotional one.
Ella Rumpf, who became well known to the festival audience by starring in Julia Ducornau’s debut feature “Raw“. She then was at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 with “Marguerite’s Theorem” directed by Anna Novion. In 2020, she was selected to represent her country, Switzerland, at the Berlinale Shooting stars.
In collaboration with the European Film promotion (EFP), founder of the Shooting stars programme, we interviewed Ella Rumpf, among the 16 former Shooting Stars in the Cannes line-up this year.
The EFP is a network of film institutions from 37 European countries, bringing European films and talent to the attention of the international industry and media and the Shooting stars project brings ten promising, versatile European acting newcomers to the Berlin International Film Festival each year.
Ella Rumpf tells us about her memories from that Berlinale 2020, “right before the world changed”.
Plot
Céline is expecting her firstborn. But she’s not the one who’s pregnant. In three months, her wife Nadia will give birth to their daughter. Under the gaze of her friends, her mother, and the law, Céline looks for her place and sense of legitimacy.