After the death of her hated mother, Hortensia Lemaitre, artist’s agent, finds herself facing a dilemma: to refuse the immense inheritance and to stay in tune with herself or to accept it and thus to deny her values. A week before the appointment with the notary, her mother's ghost visits her. The Heiress is a short student film. The film project is directed by Noé Dumont-Rivier.
Noé Dumont-Rivier is a 21-year-old French director and screenwriter. After three years of
studies at ESRA Paris, he presents his new short film: Héritière.
Inspired by different genres and movements such as the absurd, the fantastic or the
surrealism, he develops through this project a tragicomic universe that is just beginning.
Director Statement: Does family heritage define us as an individual? It is from this question that this story came to me. Duality being a subject that I find fascinating, the pieces quickly came together. I grew up in a wealthy environment. At the onset of adolescence and beyond, we could see a need in some young people, some of whom I was a part of, for emancipation from their communities. What I found fascinating was the constant paradox in this reflection, because this emancipation was only partial.
Both their attitudes and ideas were at odds with those of their parents. On the other hand, it seemed unthinkable for them to abandon the comfort brought by their families. I describe this phenomenon through the character of Hortensia: a woman who has done everything to get away from her family, represented by the figure of her mother. Faced with a gigantic tangible property, she finds herself facing a dilemma. By pocketing the money, she will rise professionally, her couple will be at best but she will flout her principles. By refusing, she loses the woman of her life and no longer advances professionally.
I portray a picture here of social determinism, of belonging to an environment and the impossibility of escaping it. Basing my story in the world of contemporary art is not trivial or gratuitous. Here, art and talent don’t really matter, everything is mercantile. This is represented by the character of Sandra. She is the closest to reality and is aware that it takes money to achieve its ends and obtain recognition. Hortensia is stuck in this world she thought was inspiring and bohemian, but that’s no longer the case.
The sometimes comical aspect is a bias that is close to my heart. During the story, humour and light tone will gradually leave room for something darker, sadder...
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