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SFFILM Festival

The Stopover

Directed by Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin

France/Greece | 102

15 Apr
Sat, Apr 15, 2017 at 5:00 pm PT

Description

In the waning days of France’s military presence in Afghanistan, a planeful of French soldiers finishing a tour there are flown to the island of Cyprus, for a three-day recuperative stint of “sport, relaxation, and collective debriefing.” For longtime friends Aurore (Ariane Labed, Attenberg) and Marine (French singer-songwriter Soko, The Dancer) and their cohorts, this period of compulsory “decompression” includes five-star accommodations shared with oblivious-seeming civilian vacationers, virtual reality simulations of a tragic incident in the field, and increasingly hostile acts of aggression among the more volatile members of the unit. Aurore and Marine are two of the only women in the group, and an undercurrent of resentful misogyny bubbles up among the soldiers as they’re encouraged by their superiors—in a facile, perhaps futile exercise—to relive a catastrophe in order not to bring home the psychological damages wrought by life in a combat zone. Casting doubt on the odds of success for such a mission—and suggesting that these men and, particularly, these women are nowhere near a safe zone—filmmakers (and siblings) Delphine and Muriel Coulin create a mood of intensifying disquiet, tracking the soldiers through outbreaks of unprocessed rage and a fog of cognitive dissonance. —Lynn Rapoport

Director Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin

French filmmakers and siblings Delphine and Muriel Coulin have been collaborating for two decades, sharing writing and directing duties on a handful of films. Their first feature, 17 Girls (2011), was nominated for a César Award, and screened in the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2012. Both the Coulins have made documentaries for French television, and Delphine Coulin is the author of several novels; Samba pour la France was adapted for the screen in 2014. The Stopover was honored at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival with the Prix Un Certain Regard for best screenplay.

Trailer

//player.vimeo.com/video/207678986?autoplay=1

Film Details

Language French, Greek, English

Year 2016

Runtime 102

Country France/Greece

Director Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin

Producer Denis Freyd

Writer Delphine Coulin, Muriel Coulin

Editor Laurence Briaud

Cinematographer Jean-Louis Vialard

Cast Soko, Ariane Labed, Ginger Romàn, Karim Leklou