At a time when France is facing street protests about social injustice, a comedy about homeless women in the north is being tipped as one of the funniest and most moving films of the year, reports The Guardian.
Les Invisibles, which opened in French cinemas on Wednesday, tells the story of women sleeping rough in northern France as a social work centre is threatened with closure.
Many the main characters are played by former homeless women who are not professional actors. Adolpha van Meerhaeghe, 70, who plays one of the homeless characters, used to sleep rough outside Lille station and served time in prison for the manslaughter of her violent husband before writing a book about her story.
She said her “big mouth” served her well on the streets and helped with her acting. “It’s hard to sleep outside and keep your personality. Humour kept me alive.”
The film – in which the homeless women adopt pseudonyms like “Lady Di” and “Brigitte Macron” (the French president’s wife) – was feted at the Angoulême film festival last year as an ode to “the modern women of the resistance” – those on the streets and the female social workers helping them. Several other French festivals have given the film awards.