Jean-Paul Salomé, the director of the opening film, Les femmes de l'ombre (Female Agents), at the French Film Festival being held in Mumbai, speaks with Pankaj Sabnani from BIGOYE about his film and more. Read on…

How did the idea of the film come up?
The idea came up when I read a newspaper article in London three or four years back. I was completing my earlier film then. I read about an old woman who passed away at that time. I read books and went on the internet. Then I wrote the story and screenplay. Although, it is a true story, it has been fictionalised. Some characters are not real.

How did you get the scenario of 1940s?
We worked with a famous French Historian because I didn't witness the Second World War. All the crew members that we had were young and no one knew the details of World War II. This is the first time that a French movie on World War II is made by people who did not live during this period. I was very careful in terms of selecting the costumes and getting the mood right.

Can you tell a bit about the candle scene in the end which was one of the high-points of the film?
She lights the candles as she is survivor of the story. You know that she does not have faith in religion. But she made a wish with the other girls in the film that at the end of the war, she will go to the church and light the candles. She does it as a token of respect for the other girls.

Weren’t you skeptical about taking five female protagonists?
For me, it was important to take five female leads. When we began to write the story and the script, it had only one character. I felt that it was too small because I wanted to show how women were during the Second World War. I was glad to direct the actresses. All the actresses were similar to their characters in the film. They bonded really well and never fought.

Your film is the opening film of the French Film Festival. Do you feel that festivals like these are a great way to increase your worldwide audience?
I am very impressed each time. It’s a great thing to meet a different audience. It’s interesting to see how the audience reacts to your film. However, people have the same set of emotions. So they react in a similar way, irrespective of which part of the world they are from.

What do you think about Indian cinema?
Indian cinema is very significant across the world. I don’t know much about the current films. But I’m a huge fan of Satyajit Ray. I like Indian films with song and dance.