Facts: Emmanuelle Nicot
Age: 38 years.
Lives: In Paris.
Occupation: Director.
Previous film: The short film “A l´arrache”.
Current: With “Dalva”, which has its Swedish cinema premiere on 5/5.
“But in the future she would rather be an astrophysicist,” says Emmanuelle Nicot to TT.
In the film, the cinema audience meets twelve-year-old Dalva, who is taken care of by the authorities after her father has been arrested for incest and many years of sexual abuse. Dalva does not understand, she sees what has happened as an abuse and feels that her father is the only one who loves her. She tries to run away to reunite with him.
— Six years ago, I heard similar stories about children who were in the same situation and who defended their parents. It was a six-year-old girl – I thought about what she would be like as a twelve-year-old, and thought there could be a movie in this.
“Didn’t mention incest”
When the script was written, the difficult search for a girl who could play the main role began. Nicot says that they were looking for someone who could speak well and express himself. Those who were interested were asked to make a video in which they talked about themselves.
— In our letter we did not mention the word incest. When we found the girls we could be interested in, we spoke to their parents, told them about the plot of the film and then they got to choose if they wanted to go ahead and talk to their children.
— But we immediately fell for Zelda. She was fantastic, had extremely good self-confidence and told me that in the future she would receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Had a psychologist with me
“Dalva” is an often heavy film about a heavy subject, but Nicot describes the filming as a dream, that the children did not find the subject unpleasant, unlike the adult actors.
Zelda always had a psychologist with her, in case she felt the need to talk to someone, but such a need never arose.
Now Zelda has an agent and also committed parents who advise and protect her. She has already received more film jobs, but a job as an astrophysicist therefore attracts more. Emmanuelle Nicot is trying to get started on the next film, but finds it difficult.
— I have lived with “Dalva” for six years, and the film is still growing. It is difficult to devote yourself to two things at once, she says.
“We immediately fell for Zelda. She was fantastic, had incredibly good self-confidence and told us that her future plans included winning the Nobel Peace Prize,” says director Emmanuelle Nicot about Zelda Samson. Press photo.