Rays and Shadows

Based on true events, the masterful and gripping new drama from César-winning writer/director Xavier Giannoli (Lost Illusions, The Singer) chronicles the complex ethical and moral challenges experienced by
journalist Jean Luchaire and his daughter Corinne during France’s occupation by Germany in the Second World War.

Fervent pacifist Luchaire (Jean Dujardin) finds an ally in young German Francophile Otto Abetz (August Diehl). Together they champion peace and rapprochement between their nations in the uneasy calm after the Great War. Meanwhile, Jean’s glamorous daughter Corinne (Nastya Golubeva) is making waves as a rising movie star, hailed as the “French Greta Garbo”.

By 1940, however, the Nazi invasion of Paris forces stark choices. Jean aligns with German authorities, and through his newspaper Les Nouveaux Temps he becomes a powerful press baron – embracing
collaboration as a path to influence and survival. His trajectory intertwines with that of Otto’s, now the Reich ambassador, whose support helps cement his position inside the occupiers’ elite. Through her connection to the two, Corinne is drawn into an intoxicating yet perilous world of embassy parties, salons, and propaganda cinema that both protects and endangers her.

This is Giannoli’s first film since Lost Illusions which also has some select screenings in the Festival.