The opening of the film had not even finished when the packed room at Le Régent vibrated with unanimous applause. On Thursday night, Aga Cieutat, the director from Saint-Gaudens, presented his third feature film, The Countess with Five Husbands, in a premiere screening. This biopic faithfully portrays the life of Pétronille de Bigorre, a figure from the 12th and 13th centuries who had no choice but to endure the machinations of men hungry for conquest.
Christophe Jourde and Aga Cieutat are both passionate cinema enthusiasts. The former heads Isard Film Production, while the latter, a graduate of a Parisian film school, has now directed his third film after several short films. When the producer proposed this medieval adventure to the director, Aga immediately got involved. Presenting Pétronille as a modern feminist figure would have been impossible without distorting history. True to the metaphor of the oak and the reed, the filmmaker chose authenticity by depicting a character subject to the constraints of her time. Despite the modest budget of the project, the cinematic result achieves a transcendent dimension. One can measure the immense passion that Aga Cieutat, Christophe Jourde, and their team – actors, technicians, costume designers – must have had in order to mobilize energies for three years, obtain permits, and dress 600 extras.
Thanks to the open-mindedness of Thomas Miquel, Le Régent cinema offers a privileged welcome to local creators. After the screening, the director led exciting discussions between the team and the audience. The film reels will now travel to various festivals, including the one in Angoulême. The stakes are now high: to find a distributor who will ensure the wide distribution that this work deserves.
