In 2005, Sofia Coppola directed her third feature film, MARIE ANTOINETTE (also playing Nov 29-30), starring Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman, at the Palace of Versailles, the first production ever granted access to the palace. Sofia’s mother, acclaimed documentarian Eleanor Coppola, accompanied her on set, capturing approximately 80 hours of footage chronicling her 34-year-old daughter’s journey through the making of the film. Now, 20 years after MARINE ANTOINETTE’s release and in fulfilment of her mother’s wish, that previously unseen material becomes MAKING MARIE ANTOINETTE. The film explores the craftsmanship behind the production, follows costume designer Milena Canonero at work, and offers a glimpse into what it meant to be a young female director at the time — at once a look at the creative process behind a landmark film and an intimate family portrait. Eleanor Coppola’s voice is performed by Academy Award® nominee Diane Lane, who reads from Eleanor’s diaries, reflecting on her experience on set and her relationship with her daughter.
“Full of love throughout its compact runtime — love for art, filmmaking, beauty and, most of all, that between a mother and daughter — MAKING MARIE ANTOINETTE feels like the ultimate making-of movie, a creative artifact and a near-term historical record that grasps what it feels like to be seen and admired through the eyes of a proud parent.” —Tomris Laffly, Variety “It’s integral to Marie Antoinette’s tragedy, to making the viewer empathize with a girl who had no choice but to get in over her head. In Eleanor’s camera, Sofia has that same impish desire, taking on a film so gargantuan that she can’t possibly understand that her eyes are bigger than her stomach. Eleanor watches dutifully, admiring her daughter as she leads rooms full of men, asserting that her decision is not only the best one, but the right one, because she is the person in charge.” —Coleman Spilde, Salon “Sofia Coppola’s distinctive, thoughtful, irreverent use of period settings is one of her superpowers as a director. It’s a sieve through which she filters female-driven stories in a truly unique way, just as Eleanor Coppola processed her own fascinations through documentary observation of artists at work. How fitting that MAKING MARIE ANTOINETTE captures both mother and daughter at their best.” —Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter
