WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MYSELF (Aide-toi et le Ciel t’aidera) Official Selection: Rendez-vous with French Cinema (2009), Rome Film Festival (2008), Tokyo International Film Festival (2008), Toronto International Film Festival (2008), Telluride Film Festival (2008) Awarded Outstanding Artistic Achievement and Best Actress for Félicité Wouassi at Tokyo International Film Festival (2008) Lumière Award for Best Director West-Coast Premiere Comedy France, 2008 In French with English subtitles 35mm/1.85:1/Color/Dolby Digital SRD/92 min Written & Directed by: François Dupeyron Cinematography by: Yves Angelo Editing by: Dominique Faysse Produced by: Michèle & Laurent Pétin Production Company: ARP Sélection, Canal + (France), CinéCinémas International sales: KINOLOGY 65 rue de Clichy 75009 Paris Tel: +33 9 51 47 43 44 With : Félicité Wouassi (Sonia), Claude Rich (Robert), Ralph Amoussou (Victor), Mamadou Dioume (Georges), Jacqueline Dufranne (Lise), Mata Gabin (Marijo), Raymond Gil (Mr Docase), Jean-Jacques Ido (Fer), Karim Kermaoui (Sylvain), Renée Lecalm (Mme Docase), Charles-Etienne N'Diaye (Léo), Fatou N'Diaye (Christie), Elisabeth Oppong (Suze), Jérôme Ravaudet (Mourad) Starring the French-African actor Félicité Wouassi (Café Au Lait, Hate, Happenstance) as the energetic Sonia, a mother of four struggling to make ends meet in the Parisian suburbs, With a Little Help from Myself deals with the serious topics of poverty and family conflict, but with humorous, Almodóvar-esque panache. Although she seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown as everything falls apart around her on the day of her daughter’s wedding, the irrepressible Sonia is convinced that things will work out. She finds solace in her friendship with clever and crafty Robert (Claude Rich, Private Fears in Public Places, The Accompanist, Is Paris Burning?), one of her elderly patients, who offers to help her solve her problems with rather unorthodox methods. ABOUT FRANCOIS DUPEYRON A former IDHEC graduate, François Dupeyron was quickly noticed with a series of short films, particularly La Nuit du Hibou and Lamento, respectively, 1985 César for Best Short Documentary Film and 1988 César for Best Short Fiction Film. After the critically-acclaimed anti-war film Officer’s Ward , screened in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film festival, his adaptation of a novel by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Monsieur Ibrahim, led by the stellar Omar Sharif (2004 César for Best Actor), was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category Best Foreign Film. Dupeyron has worked extensively with actor Gérard Depardieu, from his first feature A Strange Place to Meet (1988), to the fantasy thriller The Machine (1991) and the drama The Bridge (1999), co-directed by Depardieu. Dupeyron has also directed Love Reinvented, a TV series dealing with AIDS, and he co-wrote The Favorite Son with Nicole Garcia and Jacques Fieschi. PRESS "There's always a solution," goes the mantra of African-French earth mother Sonia (Felicité Wouassi), and she sure needs plenty of them, given the chaos in her family. Francois Dupeyron's first outing since the 2005 international hit "Monsieur Ibrahim" shows abundant heart...(..). Wouassi sails over everyone and everything in a tornado-like performance that almost defies evaluation." (Variety) "The film, daring to focus on such disenfranchised groups as immigrants and the isolated elderly, is awash in endearing characters and impressive performances, in addition to a story that just keeps giving and holding interest. With a Little Help from Myself deserves to be seen and savored; will a distributor in these times help it get a shot?" (Film Journal International) "French social problems are addressed directly in François Dupeyron’s mordant low-budget comedy "With a Little Help From Myself," set in a public housing project in which all the usual urban problems are epidemic." (New York Times)