Rebecca Zlotowski Militantly Rehabilitates The Stepmother Figure In ‘Other People’s Children’ – Venice Q&A

deadline.com:

French director Rebecca Zlotowski makes her Venice Film Festival competition debut on Sunday with drama Other People’s Children, casting the often neglected, sometimes maligned figure of the stepmother in a fresh light.Virginie Efira stars as an attractive teacher in her 40s with a full and happy life.

In the backdrop, however, her biological clock is ticking. When she gets involved with a divorced father, she becomes attached to his young daughter.Efira is joined in the cast by Roschdy Zem as the father; Chiara Mastroianni, in a small role as his ex-wife and the girl’s mother, and documentarian Frederic Wiseman, who makes a guest appearance as a gynaecologist.Other People’s Children is Zlotowski’s fifth film after Dear Prudence, Grand Central, Planetarium and An Easy Girl.

The filmmaker was last in Venice with Planetarium which played Out of Competition in 2016.Deadline talked to Zlotowski ahead of the premiere in Venice.DEADLINE: The figure of the stepmother has rarely been tackled with such sensitivity in the history of cinema.

Was putting the figure of the stepmother at the heart of the film an act of militantism in a way?REBECCA ZLOTOWSKI: When you talk about militantism, I think all films are militant in some way, even unconsciously, even if they’re not political.