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Nannerl, Camille, Adèle and others
An amazing historical record exists in the correspondence of the Mozart family, including narrative accounts by Leopold, Mozart's father, of a three year journey that introduced his children, musical prodigies, to the courts of Europe. Captivated by those letters and the recounting of their great adventure, I began to imagine the many hardships they faced during their journey - the freezing cold of winter inside their horse drawn carriage, the gloomy inns they were forced to stay in, the exhausting, intense performance schedule they endured. I could also picture their joy as they stood in the magnificent Court of Versailles and their presentation to the King, Louis XV. In those letters I discovered and fell in love with Nannerl, Mozart's sister, almost five years older than her brother, a prodigy in her own right, a marvelous singer and remarkable hapsichorist. Her father, recognizing her talent early on, trained her in music beginning at age three, but once her younger brother Wolfgang was born, that soon changed. The elder Mozart confronted with the fact that Nannerl was a girl and recognizing early on that Wolfgang's musical talent would outshine that of his sister, shifted his tutelage and focused solely on his son.
 Denied a musical career, she ultimately devoted her life to her father and to the memory of her brother whom she survived by almost forty years. When I discovered Nannerl's story, I remembered other female characters such as Camille Claudel and Adele H, doomed to a footnote in history due to their gender and family of origin. I knew that I wanted to make a film.
I immersed myself in the 18th century, devouring the history books, biographies and correspondence of the period. I was intrigued by the manners of the court, interested in whatever I could find on Louis VX and his mistresses and curious about the Dauphin, a deeply religious man, widowed at 17 years old and scandalized by the dissolute life of his father. Wanting to give voice to the emergent music within Nannerl, I began to dream. I imagined her heartache, when her father stopped her from playing the violin because it was unsuitable for a girl. I envisioned Nannerl meeting Louise de France. Confined to an abbey, she entrusts her with a letter for Versailles but Nannerl must disguise herself as a man in order to approach the Dauphin, who orders a composition from her. Thus the tale was born.....
Father and daughter(s)
I have often integrated my own family into the creative process. My son, Julien, is my first assistant and Fabienne, my wife, is the editor of my films that we produce and distribute together. I naturally thought of my daughter Marie (15 years old) for the role of the teenage Nannerl. She proved to me that she had the talent, energy and determination to play Nannerl in "Il a suffi que maman s'en aille..." with Jean- François Stévenin. My second daughter, Lisa (13 years old), plays Louise de France, one of Louis XV's daughters, "locked up" in an abbey, far from the court.
For this production, I enjoyed bringing together Marc Barbé and Delphine Chuillot to incarnate the Mozarts. They easily became a part our small production family and their talent and hard work produced amazing results. The CNC supported the writing of the film and the film took advantage
of the "avance sur recettes". We are grateful for the support of the CNC as well as the support of the Région Ile de France and the Région Limousin.
Imaginary music
In general, I do not like film soundtracks very much, but "Mozart's Sister" is an exception. The music is an essential character in the film and without it, the film would not be complete. As there are no surviving examples of Nannerl Mozart's music, it was necessary to invent the music she might have written. We tried to create Baroque music keeping Nannerl in mind at all times, hoping to give the music what we imagined would be her distinctive voice, clearly not her brother Wolfgang's work, but certainly still belonging to the Mozart family.
Gabriel Yared, who I met thirty years ago while producing "Sarah" by Maurice Dugowson, is passionate about Mozart. He loved the project and introduced me to composer Marie- Jeanne Céréro. Marie-Jeanne took up the challenge of creating Nannerl's music with enthusiasm, audacity and tremendous courage.
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roduced by René Féret, "
