‘Marion’ EP Cate Blanchett, Filmmakers Joe Weiland & Finn Constantine Talk Female Bull-Jumper Short & Plans For Feature Expansion – Venice Film Festival

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: When Cate Blanchett received an “urgent, must watch” email with short film Marion by writer-directors Joe Weiland and Finn Constantine attached, she didn’t know quite what to expect.

But Blanchett gave it a go and, she told Deadline here in Venice, ended up “literally flown back in my seat.” Marion, which world premieres at the Venice Film Festival this evening as part of the Orizzonti Short Films International Competition, is a 13-minute story set against the backdrop of La Course Landaise – the French tradition of bull-jumping.

It follows the journey of the titular character, a mother who is also one of the only women practicing the sport in France. Blanchett, who ultimately joined Sienna Miller as an executive producer on the film, told Deadline, “You don’t see something as fully realized as this, and as visceral and as enticing and powerful and memorable… To be in dialogue with this was just something I couldn’t turn down.” The short packs in a lot, intensely covering Marion’s (Caroline Larbère) preparation, her battle against misogyny and prejudiced attitudes while juggling motherhood and the contentious pursuit of her passion.

Weiland and Constantine shot the movie in Bayonne, France after having tracked down real-life bull jumper Larbère. Constantine said that after reading the script, Larbère told them, “It’s like you’ve been living in my mind.” Never having acted before, Larbère nonetheless agreed to star in the film which helped create a blend of fiction and reality — replete with some unexpected surprises.