150 MILLIGRAMS (LA FILLE DE BREST)
Emmanuelle Bercot - 2016

 

La fille de Brest

PLAYING AT THE ESQUIRE IMAX THEATRE.

In English & French with English subtitles.

BANDE ANNONCE (TRAILER)

REVIEWS

"Erin Brockovich" but with lab coats and in French. (...) Utterly absorbing all the way through, this showcase for Bercot’s skill with large casts and intellectually rigorous storytelling may be her best yet. Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter

What could have been a series of rather dry scenes featuring analysts fretting over statistics and hearings in sterile conference rooms is given a jolt of dynamic energy by Bercot’s forceful directing style and Knudsen’s remarkable performance. (...) the anger and outrage that powers the film is bracingly authentic. Wendy Ide, Screen Daily

Knudsen is magnetic as the film's relentlessly pounding heart and it's easy to fall into step with her beat. Amber Wilkinson, Eye For Film

Director: Emmanuelle Bercot

Screenplay: Emmanuelle Bercot & Séverine Bosschem. Based on the book by Irène Frachon

128 min

International Sales: Wild Bunch

PHARMACEUTICAL DRAMA

Not Rated (All audience)

Cast:
Sidse Babett Knudsen: Irène Frachon
Benoît Magimel: Antoine Le Bihan
Charlotte Laemmel: Patoche
Isabelle de Hertogh: Corinne Zacharria
Lara Neumann: Anne Jouan
Patrick Ligardes: Bruno Frachon
Olivier Pasquier: Arsène Weber, le Père Noël
Philippe Uchan: Aubert
Gustave Kervern: Kermarec

PURCHASE 16th SFFF
TICKETS & PASSES HERE!

Think Erin Brockovich with a medical degree.
150 Milligrams tells the true story of Irène Frachon, the French pulmonologist who, between 2009 and 2011, waged a one-woman war against a pharmaceutical giant, maker of a potentially life-threatening diabetes drug, Mediator, and broke one of the biggest pharmaceutical scandals ever in France. The drug was eventually banned and Frachon wrote a best-selling memoir, “Mediator 150mg” on which 150 Milligrams, the film, is based.

The comparison to Erin Brockovich is obvious, and director Emmanuelle Bercot (director of Standing Tall - SFFF 2016, On My Way  SFFF 2014, and star of My King  SFFF 2016) herself cites Steven Soderbergh’s film as a key influence. Both films are centered on a tirelessly principled and feisty female protagonist who never takes no for an answer. Irène is an immensely enjoyable character with whom to spend two hours. She is impassioned to the point of recklessness and given to puncturing the egos of the male establishment figures around her. She is funny and dedicated. And she is superbly portrayed by Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen - best known to American audiences as the main character in the TV show Borgen, who has now done a few films in France.

Like its main character, the film is full of dry humor, adrenaline, and dedicated to the truth. Bercot examines the inner workings of the drug approval system in France, and the audience can witness firsthand the uncomfortable relationship between politicians, big business, and the doctors who see the real side effects of some medications. An important film.

Shown with GARDEN PARTY by Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Victor Caire, Théophile Dufresne, Gabriel Grapperon, Lucas Navarro (MOPA)

ESQUIRE IMAX THEATRE
Sunday, June 18 – 3:40pm

ONE SCREENING ONLY!