An award-winning, critically acclaimed film from director Céline Sciamma has just landed on Stan, exploring the forbidden romance between two women in the late 18th century.

French screenwriter and director Céline Sciamma’s body of work focuses on people as they become aware of their sexuality, those moments when sexuality and identity are formed and break free.

Her previous work as a director includes the film Waterlilies, Tomboy and Girlhood, a trilogy of films about women as they come of age. She also wrote the screenplay to André Téchiné’s 2016 film Being 17, which focuses on two young men exploring their sexuality.   

With her fourth film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma stays in familiar thematic territory but takes on the challenges of filming a period drama. The film, which is screening now as part of the Perth Festival, and will later open at Luna, has been receiving high praise.

At the end of the 18th century, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is a painter working from one commission to the next. While male painters can easily command large figures for a commission, women in the industry find it more difficult to make a living.

“The first thought was about writing a love story, and dedicating a film to a love story and how love is born, all the desires and the love that is lived,” Sciamma told OUTinPerth in 2019.

“But it’s also about the memory of a love and what is left of a love story. It’s a film dedicated to love and a love of cinema.”

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is available to stream now on Stan. You can also check out our full review here.

OIP Staff

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