SUZANNE | IN PRODUCTION

| SYNOPSIS
Copenhagen, 1952. In a luxury hotel lobby, 74-year-old Suzanne Noël is approached by an enthusiastic Brazilian medical student, Natalia, who is interested in plastic surgery. An industry pioneer, Suzanne, is busy with an upcoming conference about her career. She has no time for the interview. Natalia insists, and Suzanne, impressed by her determination, finally agrees. As they prepare for the conference together, Suzanne remembers her life…

Suzanne was born in 1897 in a small provincial town, at the age of nineteen she married a dermatologist Henry Pertat, whom she followed to Paris. A few years later, regardless of social norms, she starts studying medicine. Encountering misogynistic attitudes during her studies does not deter her.

Suzanne also meets André Noël, a junior medical student who is as extroverted as Henry is discreet. André becomes her lover. A few months later, her daughter Jacqueline is born. Suzanne divides her life between the two men, Jacqueline between two “fathers”. Despite social opposition, Suzanne excels in her studies. A pivotal moment occurs when she witnesses a transformative operation on a disfigured little girl by Professor Morestin: it inspires Suzanne to enter the emerging field of cosmetic surgery. But as a woman, although she is the prize winner of her year, performing operations is not even an option. Having no choice, Suzanne decides to major in dermatology.

Ever since the day she performed a successful facelift on the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt, Suzanne dreams of opening her own practice for celebrities and high-class people. However, a war is approaching, which brings both personal and professional challenges. In 1914, thousands of soldiers go to the front. André is drafted into the army, Henry volunteers, Suzanne works tirelessly to treat wounded soldiers.

Her mentor, Professor Morestin, is innovating in facial reconstructive surgery for injured men (“broken faces”), and Suzanne learns a lot at his side. Anyone can operate in wartime, even women. Henry gets injured in a combat gas test and is repatriated, but dies a few months before the armistice.

After the war, Suzanne marries André. It seems that happiness is finally here, although André is regularly haunted by nightmares of the war and finds it difficult to cope. In the 1920s, cosmetic surgery booms and becomes fashionable! Suzanne sets up a practice on the Champs-Elysées in Paris and offers aesthetic services to a large clientele, which consists mainly of upper- and middle-class women. It gradually expands to include those who cannot afford surgery but look “too old” or “too fat“ to find work: Suzanne operates on them for free.

But tragedy strikes again: Jacqueline – Suzanne’s daughter – dies of influenza in 1922. Two years later, deeply depressed André commits suicide by throwing himself off a bridge in front of Suzanne’s eyes… Suzanne tries to overcome these tragedies and shows great resilience. Her commitment to feminism and writing saves her. She advocates for women’s rights and founds the French branch of the Soroptimist Club. And in 1926, she publishes a pioneering book on the social role of aesthetic surgery. Since then, she has been travelling the world lecturing on cosmetic surgery and advocating her ideas. In 1952, Suzanne and Natalia reflect on the importance of allowing women to decide whether to undergo surgery. The conference begins: Suzanne gives an emotional speech, in which she will challenge women to become the driving force of positive change and peace in the world.

| CREDITS
Director – Anaïs Caura & Joëlle Oosterlinck
Script – Joëlle Oosterlinck & Loïc Barrère
Art design – Anaïs Caura

Producers – Anoki & Vivement Lundi ! (FR)
Co-producers – ARTE France & Lunanime (BE), Maurfilm (Kamila Dohnalová, Martin Vandas, CZ)
Animation technique – 2D animation, archive materials
Length – 90 minutes
Genre – feature animated docu drama

Financially supported by CNC / Vlams Audiovisual Fund / Région Bretagne / Région Occitanie / Toulouse Métropole / Czech Film Fund

| GALLERY

| REŽIJNÍ EXPLIKACE

Suzanne Noël is a real historical figure with a romantic life and her own political vision as an aesthetic of the world. She is “Calamity Jane” from the beautiful neighborhoods of Paris, who wants to establish justice for women, whether by gaining political rights or the ability to “modify” their bodies. For her, winning the right to vote and democratizing cosmetic surgery are battles that have the same goal: to liberate women by giving them the right to decide their own destiny. In examining Suzanne’s life, we meet a woman who also has all the attributes of a heroine: a strong character, a rejection of a fate determined by her gender or even social class, and her passionate dream for her own existence.

Suzanne Noël left behind only few archive documents: letters, handful of photographs. No film or audio material. This lack of audiovisual material justified the use of animation to present Suzanne. As can be seen in the animation test (https://vimeo.com/572505144), archive materials and animations can be blended in various ways. The task of the animation will be to make Suzanne and all the other characters come alive in this historical fresco.

The entire film revolves around Suzanne. We are with her on her journey, in which her personal life is intertwined with great historical events. It is a biographical film without talking heads, without historians and biographers. So Suzanne speaks directly or in voiceover. To make the story more dynamic, we created a new character: Natalia, a young Brazilian plastic surgery student. She is a kind of intermediary between the audience and Suzanne, helping Suzanne prepare the conference and helping us to discover the life of the surgeon. Suzanne and Natalia each embody a certain epoch, point of view, their dialogue raises questions. They are different, but they strive for the same goals: appreciation of work, ambition, curiosity, emancipation. And Natalia offers a modern take on Suzanne’s life. Natalia is the only fictional character in this feature film. Suzanne meets Natalia in Copenhagen during the Soroptimist International convention, where Suzanne held her last conference in 1952. This conference really took place: we have documentation and recently discovered a previously unpublished amateur short film about it, featuring Suzanne Noël herself!

The starting point of the film is this discussion (the day before the conference) between the two women, which takes us in flashbacks to relive key moments in Suzanne Noël’s life. We want to tell a story with the archive materials, let them speak. And combine them with 2D animation. The animation will be realistic for the most part, but when we are “in Suzanne’s head” (joy, pain, fear, trauma and climax…) we will create more poetic scenes, like dreamlike short films.

Anaïs Caura & Joëlle Oosterlinck, directors