1981, Quibéron, a small village on the coast of Brittany, France. Hilde Fritsch arrives to visit her old friend who has retreated to a spa hotel to escape the daily pressures of her life. Her friend is world-famous star Romy Schneider, but together they appear like two regular women, who are just happy to be re-united. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that Hilde is supposed to offer the support the sensitive actress needs to be able to truly face her own demons. Shortly after, the young journalist Michael Jürgs and Romy's long-time acquaintance, photographer Robert Lebeck, arrive to conduct an interview for the famous German magazine 'Stern'. Immediately, a cat-and-mouse game ensues between the fragile diva and the ambitious author. Hilde attempts to guard her friend, while the journalists try to capture the most inner feelings of this fascinating woman for their audience. For three days and nights the action between tenderness and mutual manipulation keeps the four people deeply engaged in ups and downs of emotions, and reveals Romy Schneider to be more vulnerable than ever. And yet, by the end of those days, she may have found the inner strength to be able to start over, something she desperately wants…

The inciting moment that aroused the vison of this film for me were the black and white photographs of Robert Lebecks which made me want to make this film.

The atmosphere, the time (the 80s) and most of all the fragility of this world-famous actress Romy Schneider, that Lebeck caught in his pictures moved me so much that I was totally drawn into the research of Romy’s character, her biography during those days and the juxtaposition of the star in public and the private person that Romy Schneider used to be.

What interested me was the zoom into three days, the focus on one location, just four characters with various intentions in connection with the real and last German interview that Romy Schneider ever gave. Furthermore, what really grabbed/ interested me was to be under the skin of this extraordinary woman and artist who pretty much hit rock bottom but at the end of these three days manages to see a shimmer of hope and possibility.

I felt this story had to be told because of Romy’s inner conflicts are so immensely universal that they would touch a wider audience.

Emily Atef was born in Berlin to French and Iranian parents. She grew up in Los Angeles and Paris, before moving to London to work in the theatre. In 2001, she enrolled in the German Film & Television Academy (dffb) in Berlin. Her acclaimed films include: MOLLY’S WAY (2005), THE STRANGER IN ME (2008), KILL ME (2011), DON’T WORRY I’M FINE (TV, 2017) and 3 DAYS IN QUIBERON (2018).