PARIS — She may only have one name, but it’s certainly been getting a great deal of buzz in Gaul in recent days.
Maiwenn Le Besco, known simply as Maiwenn, is a young French actress-turned-director who came to fame as the Diva in Luc Besson‘s The Fifth Element, but has been making waves in the French auteur cinema community in recent years with her work behind the camera.
Her 2006 title Pardonnez-Moi received two Cesar nominations and 2008 title The Actress’ Ball brought together several famous French femmes for the faux documentary.
Maiwenn wrote, directed and stars in her third feature Polisse about a journalist covering the juvenile unit of a police force. The film stars an unlikely band of actors including French rap star Joey Starr alongside Gallic comediennes Karin Viard and Marina Fois.
Maiwenn joins several older, veteran directors including the Dardenne brothers, Pedro Almodovar and Terrence Malick in the Cannes Competition lineup.
“By following the path of Polisse, I’ve above all been following the path of a filmmaker whose first films touched me, shocked me and intrigued me. The subject matter and the images of the first days of the shoot proved to me right away that I hadn’t made a mistake with this filmmaker, and that the film would be powerful and true,” producer of Polisse, Les Productions du Tresor’s Alain Attal said in an interview. He added: “Today, I am looking at a finished film that to me appears so modern and staggering that every day I thank Maiwenn for giving me the chance to be her accompanist.”
