In a small, occupied village in Vaucluse, in 1944, Mother Madeleine, a nun at the head of an institute for young deaf girls, rescued and hides in the greatest secrecy of Jewish children and maquisards chased by the Germans. At the heart of her convent, she also welcomes Solange, the mayor’s daughter, deaf and rejected by the public school.
These crossed destinies of a priori ordinary women and to heroic choices forms the frame of Resistanta TV movie directed by Renaud Bertrand and broadcast this Wednesday evening at 9:10 p.m. on France 2, on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the victory of 8-May.
Line Renaud and Béatrice Facquer embody Mother Madeleine at different times in her life, a character inspired by the true story of Marie-Louise Gervais, Mother Moïse, who helped resistance in Vercors. Jade Foucart performs Solange, it is the very first role of this young deaf actress.
“Pure coincidence”
“Becoming an actress had never gone through my head. It is a pure coincidence, ”she explains to 20 Minutes. 24 -year -old student in the field of entrepreneurship, she responds to a casting announcement posted to her former school for deaf people. If she has no experience in the theater, she still decides to try her luck. “As soon as I replied, they sent me the date and the schedule. I went there and there was the casting director and the director. At the time, I was stressed, but I was so curious to know how it was since it was a first for me. Even if I did not get this role, it still had an experience, ”she estimates.
Beyond this role of a young resistant, she appreciates the director’s approach. “Renaud Bertrand wanted a deaf person to embody this character,” says the actress. It is very important for our community that deaf characters are played by deaf people. I loved he is looking for something true and authentic. »»
“An incredible adventure”
Unlike his character from Solange Gauthier, a young 17 -year -old resistance fighter who lost hearing as a result of an illness in childhood, Jade Foucart was born deaf, in a hearing family. She learned to speak, to read on the lips and is also expressed with sign language. During filming, she memorized the text of her game partners by heart, in addition to her own, in order to precisely follow the course of each scene. He also had to face the stress of playing for the first time on a set as a beginner actress.
« “I still had a certain apprehension: not to understand what the director was waiting for, how to place myself and play with the camera … But fortunately, I had a coach who helped me to transmit emotions, to train on the text and put the right tone at the right time. »» »
The actress was also supported by the team and the casting of the TV movie. In Resistantshe notably shares the poster with Jonathan Zaccaï, who plays her father and the village mayor, Élodie Navarre, her mother, or Marie Mallia, a courageous maquisarde.
“I loved shooting with this benevolent, smiling team that was understandable towards my deafness. I also loved contact with the other actors because they gave me some tips and advice, they integrated me very easily, they put me at ease. Thanks to that I experienced an incredible adventure, ”recalls Jade Foucart.
“We are able to play a role”
Beyond her own vocation, the actress also wishes with this film to open the door to other deaf or hard of hearing, “incredibly strong and courageous”.
“Thanks to this role, I would like to break all these prejudices saying that deaf people are silent when this is not at all the case,” she says. It’s just that we do not use a vocal language but a very precise language, with the hands. I would like to be forward this beautiful deaf community. We do not consider ourselves disabled. We are able to play a role, to do everything like the others hearing. »»
In the series
After the fate of a young woman in the resistance, Jade Foucart shows herself in an action film in order to discover the cogs of such a fiction. If she intends to finish her studies at the end of the school year, she dreams again on the shooting sets. “It’s an adventure, so why not continue, because I haven’t finished learning how it goes behind the scenes. I would like to discover beautiful things, meet beautiful people. »»
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