The French production Emmanuelle directed by Audrey Diwan will open the 72nd San Sebastian Festival in competition. The feature film will be screened as a world premiere on 20 September and will be attended by its director and leading cast.
Dutch writer and journalist Suzanne Rethans wrote the biography of Sylvia Kristel, the actress that played Emmanuelle in 5 of the 7 Emmanuelle movies back in the seventies and eighties. The biograpy Begeerd en verguisd, het leven van Sylvia Kristel, has been awarded the Louis Hartlooperprijs for best film publication of 2020.
About Begeerd en verguisd, the jury said: ‘The book Begeerd en verguisd (‘Desired and despised’)is the intriguing story of perhaps the Netherlands’ greatest film star: Sylvia Kristel. Kristel led a tempestuous life where her apparent goal – to become rich and famous – seemed to get in her way more than it actually made her happy. How someone with such an insane life could grow into a beautiful, powerful and accomplished human being is very accessible and engagingly described in Rethans’ Desired and despised. A richly written portrait of an actress who made millions and spent the money just as easily. A story about a woman who craved adventure and fame so much that she sometimes seemed to forget to simply be happy. And given her life history, the title of the book is also entirely appropriate: desired and despised. She was embraced as an icon of sexual liberation in one country, and reviled by the women’s movement in another.
Desired and despised, the English translation of the biography, will be available on Amazon in September 2024.
You can book the keynote about life and work of Sylvia Kristel right here. For further information, please contact Suzanne Rethans at srethans@gmail.com.