Director Olivier Assayas on Clouds of Sils Maria

Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart in, Clouds of Sils Maria

Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart (who won a 2015 César Award for her performance) and Chloe Grace Moretz star in Olivier Assayas’s Clouds of Sils Maria, a layered character study that debuted In Competition at Cannes 2014. It was also screened this past September at the Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews.

At the peak of her career, Maria (Binoche) is asked to perform in a new staging of the play Maloja Snake, whose film adaptation made her famous 20 years ago.  But now she will play the older role.  Maria departs with her assistant Val (Stewart) to rehearse in Sils Maria, a remote area of the Alps, home of the real “Maloja Snake,” a menacing weather phenomenon that sends clouds winding through the valley.  
Dynamics ensue as Maria and Val’s professional/personal worlds merge, and Maria faces the fact that a Hollywood starlet (Moretz) will fill the young role. 

French writer/director Olivier Assayas and Binoche worked together on 2008’s Summers Hours (he wrote/directed) and 1985’s Rendez-vous (he co-wrote).  We spoke with Olivier Assayas at the Toronto International Film Festival about the movie and working with this talented cast.  Interview conducted by Toni-Marie Ippolito

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
Opens April 10 in Toronto (Bell Lightbox), 
Vancouver (International Village) and Montreal! The film will open throughout the spring in other cities