Child of the region, director Nicolas Vanier could not help but mix fiction with reality in his film Champagne!which hits theaters on June 8.
This “story of friends” takes root in the vineyards around Reims, where the famous champagne is produced. actors and actresses Stéfi Celma, Claire Chust, François-Xavier Demaison, Stéphane de Groodt, Éric Elmosnino, Valérie Karsenti, Sylvie Testud and Elsa Zylberstein meet to celebrate a bachelor party. Among them, there are winegrowers: two women in a relationship (Elsa Zylberstein and Stéfi Celma) who together manage an estate.
This comedy was screened in preview at the Le Palace cinema in Epernay on April 19. The local audience was thus able to recognize familiar settings: many landscapes of the region appearing in the background of the film. “The weather was bad, but it gave skies, incredible lights. We tried to shoot in corners that I had spotted, where there was a lot of relief. I also discovered a lot of small plots which give beautiful lines. They are paintings”says Nicolas Vanier.
They live in the moment, it’s sharing
Nicolas VanierDirector
The film crew completely blended into the background, meeting the Champagne winegrowers. “When we were invited to cellars and given a taste, I observed the winegrower’s gaze on people. And this gaze is magnificent. They live in the moment, it’s sharing”says the director.
The actress Elsa Zylberstein liked the intertwining between stories of friendship and vines that make up the substance of Champagne! : “What I liked about the screenplay is that we have business women, leading women. They are two women facing difficulties, a fairly masculine world. And the fact that they be in love and lesbian, it was not a subject in the film. That’s what I like”.
“Champagne!” will be released in cinemas on June 8, 2022. A preview is scheduled at the UGC cinema in Lille on April 25.