JULIEN MADON, LISA AZUELOS AND JÉRÔME SEYDOUX PRESENT SVEVA RICCARDO JEAN-PAUL NICOLAS ALVITI SCAMARCIO ROUVE DUVAUCHELLE

DIRECTED BY LISA AZUELOS PHOTO THIBAULT GRABHERR - CRÉDITS NON CONTRACTUELS PHOTO THIBAULT

ALESSANDRO BORGHI VALENTINA CARLI BRENNO PLACIDO NIELS SCHNEIDER VITTORIO HAMARZ VASFI DAVIDE LORINO HAYDEE BORELLI WITH SPECIAL APPEARANCES BY VINCENT PEREZ AND PATRICK TIMSIT WWW.-LEFILM.COM JULIEN MADON, LISA AZUELOS AND JÉRÔME SEYDOUX PRESENT

SVEVA RICCARDO JEAN-PAUL NICOLAS ALVITI SCAMARCIO ROUVE DUVAUCHELLE

DIRECTED BY LISA AZUELOS

DURATION: 2H04

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ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD AT WWW.PATHEFILMS.COM FROM HER BIRTH IN IN 1933 TO HER FIRST

CONCERT AT THE IN PARIS IN 1956;

FROM HER MARRIAGE TO LUCIEN MORISSE,

DIRECTOR OF THE NEWLY EMERGING EUROPE

1 RADIO TO THE HEIGHT OF THE SCENE;

FROM HER JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY TO INDIA

TO THE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS OF GIGI

L’AMOROSO IN 1974, DALIDA THE FILM, IS

A TOUCHING AND TRAGIC PORTRAIT OF AN

EMOTIONALLY COMPLEX WOMAN WHO WAS

BORN TO BE A STAR. AN UNCONVENTIONAL

MODERN WOMAN LIVING IN CONVENTIONAL

TIMES. DESPITE HER TRAGIC DEATH IN 1987,

DALIDA’S STAGE PRESENCE AND INCREDIBLE

TALENT CONTINUE TO LIVE ON. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A FILM ABOUT DALIDA?

To be honest, I wasn’t really a fan of Dalida’s before I began working on this film. In some ways, she was kind of thrust upon me! Saying that, as soon as I started researching her life, I felt an empathy with her, and, as time passed, the bond got stronger and stronger. Dalida wasn’t just a woman who broke a lot of records - she won more awards than any other French artist; sold 170 million records, recorded 2000 songs and had 70 gold records - she was also an exceptional person. Not every celebrity has a destiny mapped out. But she did.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?

Her existence was both spectacular and tragic! Dalida’s life was like a novel, with all the ingredients of a good TV drama. Her fame and notoriety were on a par with her loneliness. I quickly came to realise that I shouldn’t just tell the story of a woman, but the story of this woman who never found happiness. I wanted to do justice to Dalida to her memory. I wanted people to understand who she really was and forgive her final desperate act. She was a victim of misfortune, in that she was a modern woman in an era that was far from modern! Had she lived twenty-five years on, she could have kept the baby that she conceived out of wedlock, or had an abortion in an environment that wouldn’t have made her sterile. She could even have been a “cougar” without worrying about it. And then – just maybe – she might not have been so desperately unhappy as to commit suicide.

WHY DID THIS FILM TAKE SO LONG TO MAKE?

Probably because when dealing with such an important and complex character, nothing is ever simple! The project changed direction, actress and angles many times. Yet strangely, I knew that I would get there in the end because back in 2012, a medium said to me, “Dalida is happy that you’re telling her story”. I replied “That can’t be right because even though I’ve written the script, the film has been abandoned.” She replied, “You’re wrong, in four years time there will be a film and you’ll direct it.” So whether one chooses to believe in those sorts of things or not, it did happen!

COMPARED TO MANY OTHER BIOPICS, YOU CHOSE NOT TO FOCUS ON ONE PART OF DALIDA’S LIFE BUT ON THE WHOLE. WHY?

Because I think that Dalida’s childhood, and especially her relationship with her father, explains a lot about her relationship with men all the way through her life. Her life and death were two sides of the same coin. In order to understand her being, it’s impossible to cut corners. Furthermore, all the different phases of her life as an artist and her love life are fascinating: from the San Remo years all the way through to the disco years. It would have been way too hard to leave any of that out! I already feel frustrated enough as it is for not being able to include everything - I had to cut the film, as originally, it was almost three hours long!

HOW DID IT GO WORKING WITH ORLANDO (DALIDA’S BROTHER/PRODUCER), WHO CO-WROTE THE SCREENPLAY?

Very, very well. His involvement was a safeguard mechanism and a way to ensure that the true story of Dalida was told. He soon realised that we both shared the same ultimate goal: to make Dalida live on for eternity. Orlando only had three requests: he wanted to approve the screenplay, choose the actress who would play his sister, and choose the actor who would play him, which is fair enough. In exchange, he totally respected my artistic freedom. From time to time he guided my writing (“You can’t leave that out, Lisa!”) but he also let me depart from reality too. I wrote quite a lot intuitively, just letting myself be guided by how I imagine Dalida might have felt. I’ll never be able to thank Orlando enough for the faith and trust he put in me.

THIS IS YOUR FIRST BIOPIC, SO HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT MAKING DALIDA’S STORY YOUR OWN?

I began by reading, watching and listening to everything by her and about her! I was also helped by the fact that her lifestyle FACED WITH SUCH A TRAGIC LIFE, WERE YOU EVER was relatively familiar. Being the daughter of Marie Laforêt, I WORRIED THAT THIS FILM MIGHT BE TOO DARK? understand what it would have been like to be a singer in the I knew that it would never be a feel-good movie, but I also 1970s and 1980s: the glamour, the etiquette, the conservative knew that Dalida had two sides to her character: on the one nature of this period, the constant attention from everyone hand she was a very unhappy person but when she was (especially men who determined almost everything for you), singing, she shone. That’s why I chose to tell the story of her but also the small details, like having a lady whose job it was life through both the men that she loved and her songs. And to stamp your signature on autographed photos. I knew about she had other moments of great happiness in her life and not all of that stuff. There was no danger that I could get any of just in her career. For example, her passionate love affair with that part of the script wrong. As for Dalida herself, it’s very Richard Chanfray is a very uplifting passage in the film. strange to delve so deeply into someone else’s life, especially when I began to realize that through her, I was also going to reveal a lot about myself. The first year of writing was very TELL US ABOUT THE CASTING. IS IT TRUE THAT YOU hard, probably because I found a lot of similarities between SAW 200 ACTRESSES BEFORE FINALLY COMING ACROSS SVEVA ALVITI? us, such as her interest in spirituality and her relationships with men. Like her, I have never had any doubts about my Yes! We started in , but all the actresses I saw rolled career, but I have regularly had doubts in my private life. Yet, their ‘R’s, it was too much! Maybe it’s because culturally I was lucky enough to have children and that makes all the speaking we don’t really have that many accents, so it all difference. Through Dalida, I learned a lot about myself, and in sounded rather fake. So, we decided to cast the net further particularly that I couldn’t have lived my life without children. afield to Italy and the Middle East. When I saw a video of This was something that I had never admitted to myself until Sveva, I had a very good feeling about her. When she came working on this film. to Paris, there were still 20 actresses in the running. Sveva sang Je Suis Malade and in that instant, I was overcome with emotion! I literally cried. She was a very inexperienced actress and she didn’t speak French but at the end of her audition when she said, “I am Dalida” I said, “I know.”

AND WHAT ABOUT THE MALE CAST?

I thoroughly enjoyed that part, as Dalida only liked really good-looking men! I was very lucky to get the actors I wanted from the start. And they all amazed me: Nicolas Duvauchelle (Richard Chanfray) and Jean-Paul Rouve (Lucien Morisse), that goes without saying, but also among the actors playing the men with lesser roles in Dalida’s life such as Niels Schneider (Jean Sobieski), Alessandro Borghi () and Brenno Placido (Lucio). Patrick Timsit () and Vincent Perez () were both so true to life. And when Riccardo Scamarcio, who I went to meet in Puglia, agreed to play the part of Orlando, I knew that I had the best male cast on this earth!

CAN YOU SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE COLOUR PALETTE OF THE FILM: THE COSTUMES, DECOR, LIGHTS ETC.

Visually, I didn’t want the film to be too real to life. Instead, I wanted to conjure up something that would be as visually pleasing as possible! A bit like the series Mad Men – in the 60’s people’s offices weren’t as slick as they are in that series, but who cares, as long as we believe it and it gives us something to dream about. Emmanuelle Youchnovski the costume designer understood what I was after and suggested dressing Dalida not in the fashion of the time, but in regard to the men in her life at that moment. So, for example, when Dalida is with Lucien Morisse her clothes are elegant and ladylike, and when she’s with Chanfray, the lines are softer and more sensual.

NOW THAT THE FILM HAS BEEN MADE, WHAT PLACE WILL DALIDA HAVE IN YOU LIFE?

She has a huge place in my life and always will! Ever since I started working on this film, I felt that she wasn’t far from me, and I still do. I completely understand her quest for the absolute, her thirst for love, true love, not the type that we usually get served up and accept. She taught me to no longer let myself be carried along by a relationship. Thanks to Dalida, I have become my own best friend. I’m convinced that we would have got along very well, as, beyond her talent and her beauty, she was a very kind person. I’m sure of it. I’m both proud and happy to have put her back in the spotlight. ORLANDO, HOW LONG HAVING YOU BEEN WORKING ON THIS FILM PROJECT?

5 years! It didn’t work out with the original American co-producers as they sent me two versions of the screenplay that both lacked soul and finesse. So I ended up abandoning the project in 2012. I have to take my hat off to Julien Madon, the producer, because he never once gave up over the past five years! He fought hard to get this project off the ground, and kept on ringing me again and again! I ended up agreeing to meet Lisa Azuelos and Jêrome Seydoux and got along with them very well. Their vision of the film reassured me, so we started all over again from scratch.

YOU HAVE A REPUTATION FOR BEING A PARTICULARLY VIGILANT TRUSTEE.

Dalida has been gone for 30 years, and my mission, then and now, remains the same: to not simply keep her memory alive, but to carry her into the future. It’s the next generation that interests me! Dalida’s strength is that she appeals to all age groups. I’ll do everything in my power to keep that going until the day I die. But I’m aware that I’m neither a writer nor a director, so once I have put my trust in someone, I let them get on with their job.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE LISA AZUELOS?

Firstly, because I liked the idea of a film about a woman being made by a woman. And Lisa has great strength of character, like Dalida! She understood one very important thing, that my sister had two very different sides to her: Dalida and Iolanda, two personae, one public and one private and that it was key to do them both justice. Furthermore, Lisa had an altogether better understanding of the depth and complexity of Dalida’s character as she herself is the daughter of a famous French singer from that period.

HOW DID YOU WORK WITH LISA?

During the writing stage, my contribution was to corroborate the facts, places, dates, Dalida’s relationship with the public and with the men in her life, in order to stick close to the truth. I also put all my archives and the documents that Dalida had left to me at Lisa’s disposal. Lisa had complete freedom to write the script and make the film she wanted. When I read the script, I knew that she’d understood Dalida. DID YOU HAVE ANY SAY IN THE CASTING?

I had my say in the choice of actors who would play my sister and me. Finding the right person to play Dalida was a very long, drawn-out process. I have to admit that, at first, I wasn’t totally convinced by Sveva Alviti’s screen test. I found her very beautiful and touching but something was missing. She asked if she could meet me and I agreed. When she arrived, in the middle of dinner with Lisa and Julien, I was very impressed. She had Dalida’s elegance, physique, glamour and finesse. We spoke in Italian. I was very touched by her so we met again for two hours in my office. I showed her videos and explained to her Dalida’s gestures, her way of walking, how my sister sculpted the air with her hands, her soul, her DNA. Then Sveva did another screen test and this time she was amazing. She showed her emotions, what she had on the inside. I said to the producers: “She will be Dalida, you were right to insist!”. On the first day of the shoot, I sent her a note: “As from today, I have a new little sister”. I know she was very touched by this. I really hope that Sveva has a long successful career, she has what it takes. We have so many beautiful and talented young women in European cinema!

AND WHAT ABOUT RICCARDO SCAMARCIO, WHO PLAYS YOU?

It’s funny because I had thought about Riccardo Scamarcio, who I’ve been a fan of for a long time, to play the part of Luigi Tenco. But when he read the script he found the role of Orlando more... exciting! (Laughs). I think that he played me with great elegance, precision and respect without ever slipping into a caricature of me!

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE ACTORS WHO PLAY THE MEN IN DALIDA’S LIFE?

Per-fect! The film’s two-thirds French and one-third Italian cast is exceptional. Jean-Paul Rouve portrays Lucien with to her life story and now I’m of her memory. The great authenticity and sincerity. And off-screen he’s such a night after seeing the film, I couldn’t sleep. I asked to see the lovely person. Niels Schneider, one of Xavier Dolan’s preferred film again, in order to try and see the film the way a viewer actors, is as handsome as Jean Sobieski, an apparition in real would, with emotional distance. It was only the second time I life. Alessandro Borghi is beautiful and dark, like Luigi Tenco watched it that I managed to form an opinion. was. As for Nicolas Duvauchelle, I pushed for him to play Richard Saint-Germain. He was so unbelievably true to life: AND? the way he walked, his sensuality that was quite animalistic. My sister loved such different types of men, it’s crazy! You I’m proud and happy with the result. Sometimes I feel angry must remember that I knew them all very well, so I know what with Iolanda for depriving us so early on of Dalida, but I also I’m talking about. think that Iolanda stepped back so that Dalida could become eternal. My sister is still hugely popular. She was a legend in her own lifetime and has become a myth “FOREVER”. I HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SAW THE END RESULT? think that her fans will be pleased to see her again in all her The first time I saw the film, it was a huge shock. Like a slap reality, complexity and beauty. Not to mention those who will in the face. It was hard to watch my own life unfold on the discover Dalida for the first time through this film. I think, big screen. Dalida wasn’t just my sister, we worked side by more than ever, that Dalida has a future. And I will always be side, and we went through it all together. I was the witness there as her producer. SVEVA ALVITI, THE FRENCH PUBLIC DON’T KNOW YOU YET. WHO ARE YOU AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I’m Italian, from Rome, and I’m 32 years old. When I was a child, I wanted to be a tennis player and I got to a level where I could have turned professional. But everything changed when my sister enrolled me in the Elite Model Look Italy modelling competition. I was lucky enough to win the contest and move to New York, aged 17. I knew quite early on that I wanted to be an actress, and modelling was a way for me to pay for the best acting school in New York. I modelled for about nine years, and I was just about to give up on my dream of becoming an actress when Dalida appeared!

HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT?

What’s quite funny is that at first I refused to fly back to Europe to do the casting. My agent insisted over and over again, but I thought I had no chance of getting it, as the role was too big for me! On top of this, I couldn’t speak French, I couldn’t sing and I couldn’t dance. Why on earth did they want me to audition, I have no idea - it was weird. So my agent managed to convince me to make a demo video on my iPhone. It was when I was preparing the video that I found out who Dalida really was. I knew her songs, like all Italians, but I didn’t know anything about her as a person. An interview with her on Youtube changed everything. I suddenly felt moved by her and very close to her. As if I understood her. How could I not want to play the part of such a sensitive, kind and strong woman? So I started imagining myself playing the part.

AND THEN?

Lisa had seen about 200 actresses and there were twenty left in the running. So I decided it was about time that I went to Paris! I had to be ready to sing a song, in playback. I chose Je Suis Malade because it’s the song of Dalida’s that touched me most. I didn’t really think I had a big chance of being picked, but so what, I sang it for myself, to express something I felt deep inside. This song is also a poem, and I understood the pain hidden within the text. When I finished singing it, everyone was silent. I saw that Lisa Azuelos was crying. I simply said to her, “I am Dalida.” And she replied, “I know.”

HOW DID YOUR CRUCIAL MEETING GO WITH ORLANDO?

I was very nervous about meeting him, but I treated it as though I was in character, imagining the nerves that Dalida must have felt before going on stage. Orlando was extremely kind to me. He made me work really hard on my gestures, but then he gave me the freedom to realise Dalida in my own way. I didn’t just want to imitate her, I wanted to make the part my own. When we had finished filming, Orlando gave me the most beautiful gift anyone could ever give: he gave me a pair of earrings that belonged to Dalida and called me his little sister.

HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR THE PART?

I spent nine months preparing. I worked extremely hard. For a start, I had to learn to speak French! Filming lasted 3 months, and took place in France, Italy and Morocco. It was quite tiring as I spent four hours in makeup every day even before I started work! I had a wig, a prosthetic nose and false teeth. On some days, I had to jump from a scene that took place in the to a scene in the 1980’s. I had a coach to help me rehearse, and I worked on the script until I knew it off by heart. I was also helped by the other actors on set, who were all much more experienced than me and gave me lots of helpful advice. Nicolas Duvauchelle, Niels Schneider, Riccardo Scamarcio, Jean-Paul Rouve - they were all very supportive. And, of course, Lisa Azuelos was amazing. She was like a mother to me: she was very understanding and she gave me a lot of encouragement. What’s most important to her is t convey the emotion, so she’s happy to leave room for improvisation, which is great.

HOW DOES A YOUNG WOMAN LIKE YOU FIND IT IN HERSELF TO PLAY THE PART OF A SUICIDAL 54 YEAR OLD?

Fragility has nothing to do with age! Like Dalida, I’m intuitive and quite introspective, so I really understood how she felt. One of the best things about being an actress is being able to express what you have on the inside. We all have a dark side to our personality, so, for me, it was interesting to explore this. The most difficult scene for me wasn’t the scene where Dalida commits suicide but the scene where she had to go through an abortion. The sacrifice she made, for a woman who dreamed of one thing, having a child, is inhumane. But fortunately, Dalida didn’t only experience suffering in her life! The scenes of happiness were so much fun to do. When I sang at the real Olympia and in San Remo, it felt amazing, and these experiences are now some of memories I cherish. There was a moment when we were filming when I no longer knew whether I was Sveva or Dalida. It was a dizzying experience, both joy and pain. Right now, Dalida is not so much a part of me, which is probably a good thing, but she will always remain the best gift that life has ever given me up until now. the funding wasn’t in place, didn’t really appeal to me. Then Lisa came to see me at home, in Puglia. I was very touched that she made that effort. We had dinner together and laughed a lot, and I did everything in my power to make her change her mind but she wouldn’t have it! Together, we decided that the real challenge for me, artistically speaking, would be to play Orlando, as on paper, he seemed completely different to me. Also, the fact that Sveva didn’t have much acting experience also had an affect on my decision. As an “experienced” actor, it seemed right that I should play a protective, brotherly role. It brought a credible dynamic to our two characters.

HOW DID YOU PREPARE TO PLAY THE PART OF ORLANDO?

I watched a lot of footage from that period, but unlike the other characters in the film, I was lucky in that my character is still alive and thank goodness he is! So obviously I met him. The difficulty for me was finding the right balance and of being able to convincingly portray the brother, the producer and the private person without falling into caricature; to stay real when acting this complex man.

DID THE FACT THAT YOU AND SVEVA ALVITI ARE BOTH ITALIAN CREATE A SPECIAL BOND BETWEEN YOU?

Yes, absolutely! When she was tired - and she had good reason to be, she worked so hard! I have rarely seen such a commitment to a role! - I would go and speak to her in Italian, and spend a bit of time with her. As though I really was her big brother. Plus, it was a perfect way to work on my character!

HOW MUCH DID YOU KNOW ABOUT DALIDA BEFORE READING THE SCREENPLAY? DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE SCENE IN THE FILM, AND IF SO, WHICH ONE IS IT? I knew that she was very famous in France, and I knew the original versions of her songs because she often did cover Firstly, I’d like to say that I really enjoyed the film – all of it! versions of Italian hits. For my parents, she was a huge star! Conveying the loneliness of a celebrity is a tricky business As for her brother Orlando, I just knew his name. I didn’t know and the result is amazing. My favourite scenes were perhaps that he’d played such an important part in her career. the ones I did with Nicolas Duvauchelle; I think they’re great. And also the scene in the restaurant, towards the end of ORIGINALLY LISA AZUELOS HAD YOU IN MIND TO PLAY the film. We improvised the dialogue. Lisa wanted to keep THE PART OF LUIGI TENCO. WHY WERE YOU DRAWN TO THE PART OF ORLANDO? it. I think that scene portrays simply and honestly, the loving tenderness between brother and sister. Actually, she originally offered me both parts. In the beginning, the idea of committing to a big film like that, abroad, when all DID ORLANDO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE PART?

No, not really. He rarely interfered on set. It’s funny, because he’s actually one of my neighbours in Paris. We’ve walked past each other many times over the years without knowing each other. I was very touched when he told me that he found my interpretation of Lucien Morisse just right.

WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON LUCIEN AND DALIDA’S RELATIONSHIP?

It’s not just because I play him that I think he was the one true love of her life! He was her Pygmalion, her father, her husband, a little of all of those rolled into one. I get the impression that their story was a series of missed opportunities. Dalida was no longer in love with him when he finally decided to marry her, but if they had got married a few years earlier, if they’d had a child, it would have been a very different story. And I think that the outcome of Dalida’s life, and Lucien’s, would have been quite different. YET HE HAS A NASTY SIDE TO HIM, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN HE BLACKLISTS HER AFTER THEIR BREAK-UP.

Absolutely! I’m not trying to justify his behaviour but his reaction was that of a scorned and jealous man. I can understand. I like it when characters have reactions that aren’t particularly honourable - that’s what makes them human. And in his defence, later on, he realises his mistake. The scene at the Olympia really did take place. It proves that Lucien had a certain humility to admit and accept the fact that Dalida could get by without him.

A WORD ABOUT LISA AZUELOS?

Lisa has been a friend for a long time but we’d never worked together before. I loved the good humour and energy that she brought to the set and I’m truly amazed by the fantastic end result. She did the right thing hiring Sveva. She took a big risk working with an inexperienced actress, but Sveva did a fantastic job. Frankly I take my off hat to her because that girl is seriously good! Although we all know the story of Dalida well, and its sad ending, we get carried along with the story. I found it very intelligently done. The film is about a woman; her career is basically just a backdrop. That’s what’s so moving about the film and what allows everybody, man or woman, to let themselves be carried away. NICOLAS DUVAUCHELLE

one of those courtiers at the court of Versailles. He came from nowhere, forged himself a new identity, spent years hanging out with the jet-set, sleeping with people left, right and centre, until he finally hit the jackpot the day he met Dalida!

DO YOU THINK THAT HIS FEELINGS FOR HER WERE INSINCERE?

In the beginning I think he was drawn to her to serve his own interests. But Dalida was a very seductive woman and I think they genuinely loved each other. After all, their relationship did last almost ten years. I imagine that they wowed each other, for whereas Dalida was very famous, Chanfray was the king of the smooth talkers. Furthermore, it would appear that he was the man who made her discover carnal pleasure, so that must count for something!

HOW DID YOU APPROACH THE ROLE?

In order to do my research into the part, Lisa Azuelos gave me lots of documents and video footage from that era, such as interviews that Chanfray gave as a philosopher and as an alchemist and a pop video of the record he made with Dalida. Then to build on the character, we went to town with the costume design: big lapel shirts, wide belts, vulgar rings, Cuban heeled boots, fur coats, the whole shaboom! I wore a very layered wig and did a few sessions on a sunbed to give myself a St Tropez tan. It’s the first time I’ve ever played a character from the ‘70s - I really enjoyed it.

ORLANDO SAID THAT YOU WERE A DISTURBINGLY TRUE-TO-LIFE RICHARD CHANFRAY.

I remember the day he came on set and saw me for the first time as Saint-Germain. He looked at me and didn’t say a word for what felt like ages. It was really nice and also quite moving for Lisa and I to see him so unsettled.

HOW WOULD YOU INTRODUCE YOUR CHARACTER, RICHARD CHANFRAY AKA THE COUNT OF SAINT-GERMAIN? HOW DID IT GO WORKING WITH SVEVA ALVITI?

He’s a bit like Mike Brandt on the outside and Christophe I thought she was wonderful and incredibly courageous. She Rocancourt on the inside! Behind his flamboyancy, he’s a was always the first on set and the last to leave. She had to relatively unsavoury person, a pathological liar who takes a spend hours in make-up and had French lessons every day. lot of drugs and is prone to outbursts of violence. But in his Even on the weekends she came back to rehearse her songs defence, he didn’t have an easy life. He reminds me a bit of and dance routines. I take my hat off to her! DALIDA’S MISS ONDINE AND To help support her mother financially, Iolanda worked as a secretary/typist at a pharmaceutical import-export business. She had always dreamed of making a name for herself in the world but most of all she dreamed of becoming an actress. At the time, her idols were and .

At the age of 16, she threw the pair of glasses that had caused her so much suffering out of the window. To prove to herself that she was now beautiful, in 1952 she took part in the Miss Ondine beauty contest. She came first and, to her mother’s great despair, her photograph was in all the local papers the following day. Her mother hadn’t been aware that her daughter had taken part in any beauty contest.

Dalida then became a model at Donna, which, at the time, was a very famous fashion house in Cairo. In January 1954, she won the Miss Egypt beauty contest. In the salons of the Auberge des Pyramides, wearing just a leopard print and the number 7, she caused a real sensation.

20TH NOVEMBER 1954

The film LE MASQUE DE TOUTANKHAMON came out in Egypt. Iolanda played the part of a dancer-cum-spy. She had previously played the part of fake Hollywood- style vamp in A GLASS AND A CIGARETTE directed by THE EARLY YEARS Niazi Mostafa that came out in cinemas in September How impoverished and abandoned Serrastretta was, 1954. Because Iolanda looked very like Hedy Lamarr, the village in Calabria from which Dalida’s grandparents the heroine in Cecile B De Mille’s film SAMSON AND set out in search of a better life. DALILA, the director suggested that she take Dalila as her stage name.

17TH JANUARY 1933...

Birth of Iolanda, daughter of Pietro and Giuseppina 25TH DECEMBER 1954 Gigliotti. Pietro plays first violin at the Cairo opera Iolanda, now known as Dalila, landed at Le Bourget house; Giuseppina is a housewife. They have a 3-year airport on board a “Connie”. And spent her first night old son called Orlando. Dalida’s younger brother Bruno in Paris. Marc de Gastyne, who had been beguiled by (who would later be known as Orlando), would come her on the big screen and, advised her to try her luck in along a few years later. The Gigliotti family, with their France. He and his wife Shira had offered to put her up Calabrian roots, lived in a modest apartment in Cairo in for a bit in their modest apartment near the Champs- the working-class neighbourhood of Choubra. Élysées. De Gastyne had introduced her to his old When Dalida was very young, she had to undergo two friend, Colonel Vidal, who had recently retired and was eye operations as a result of a poorly treated illness. looking for a new career in show business. Vidal was As a result, she had to wear glasses throughout her very keen on representing Dalila and paid for her trip childhood and teenage years. from Cairo to Paris. But in the long run it turned out that the Colonel knew very little about show business. In 1939, war broke out. Egypt became allies with Britain in the fight against Hitler. Every Italian living in A month after she arrived in Paris, Iolanda moved into Egypt was imprisoned. As a result, Yolanda’s father a bedsit - 67 rue de Ponthieu, just off the Champs- spent four years in a camp in Fayed in the middle of Élysées - and then, on the 9th May 1955, she moved the desert. He came home mentally and physically again to rue Jean Mermoz where her new neighbour exhausted. He became ill and died in 1945. was a certain . Between appointments with casting directors, she 28TH AUGUST 1956 wrote to her mother saying how happy she was living Madona Dalida’s first single, produced by Eddie “near the most beautiful avenue in the world in a Barclay, was released. radio played it neighbourhood full of shops”. Whereas in reality, she several times the same day to the great satisfaction was worried as she hadn’t managed to get a single of their listeners who described Dalida’s voice as acting job yet. But she wasn’t discouraged. To make a “deep, unusual and interesting”. Boosted by the radio living, she decided to try her luck at singing. In Cairo, success of this first single, Lucien Morisse asked for she was told time and time again what a lovely singing more of the same. A second single, Le Torrent, was voice she had. So she began taking singing lessons recorded in its wake. with the music teacher Roland Berger, who taught her how to control her voice.

SEPTEMBER 1955

Thanks to her agent, Colonel Vidal, Dalila was hired by a cabaret on the Champs-Élysées called the Drap d’Or. Only a few weeks later, she was also asked to sing not far from there at La Villa d’Este, a well-known cabaret near the Champs-Élysées. She became the opening act for a show whose headliners included Juliette Greco, the ex Saint-Germain-des-Pres muse, and .

One evening, one of the regulars, the playwright Alfred Machard, suggested to her to change her name and replace the last “l” with a “d”, as in God the father. So Dalila became Dalida. Every night she went down a storm. She remained on the bill for a whole year.

9TH APRIL 1956

Every Monday night at the Olympia, a show called Tomorrow’s Number Ones was put on by Bruno Coquatrix, the owner of the venue and Lucien Morisse, the artistic director of Europe 1 radio station. They 28TH OCTOBER 1956 were both on the lookout for new talent to rejuvenate the world of French music hall. Lucien Morisse didn’t waste time. He believed in Dalida’s potential and wanted to find the song that A few minutes before entering the temple of song on would transform his protégé into a star. A third single the Boulevard des Capucines, Eddie Barclay, the “king came out two months to the day after the first record. of vinyl” and Lucien Morisse were deciding on whether Track 1 on the A-side was a cover version of Guaglione to go to the cinema or to the Olympia. Comfortably with verses by Marino Marini’s famous orchestra in seated in the bar Romain on Rue Caumartin, they Italy. Later renamed Bambino, this song would change couldn’t make up their minds. Eddie was more for Dalida’s life forever, and the lives of French people. going to the cinema, whereas Lucien was keen on the Olympia. They decided to let the dice decide over a game of 4-21. The dice decided in favour of Lucien and so, as it turned out, in Dalida’s favour too. Dalida, BAMBINITIS the seventeenth contestant out of twenty, sung at the Olympia wearing a white toga-style dress. With a “France has gone Bambino mad!” “The whole slightly shaky voice, she interpreted Gloria Lasso’s hit country is suffering from an acute case of song of the time Etranger au Paradis. Lucien Morisse Bambinitis!” It was in this language that journalists fell totally in love with her. Eddie Barclay fell in love and humourists acknowledged the success of this with the singer. And Bruno Coquatrix envisaged her as song, which was being pounded out several times the first music hall sex symbol. a day on Europe 1 radio. In less than three weeks, three hundred thousand copies were sold. Today, and got Dalida to sign contracts for a series of dates it’s considered to be a classic. Total sales to date spread out over the year. are estimated at forty million copies So after a series of concerts at the Olympia, which THE 17TH SEPTEMBER 1957, Dalida became the ended on March 19th, he got her gigs at from first woman to have a gold record and to create a April 19th to May 1st. There, she performed at the end fan club that received thousands of pieces of fan of the first part of the show. Then she went on to do a mail every week. Her natural sensuality attracted mini tour all over France. Finally, on October 9th 1958, all the boys and all the girls wanted to be like her. Dalida was the headline act for the very first time. The The critics called her “the Bardot of song” at a fifteen songs that she sang, had all done very well in time when was loved on the silver the record charts for the previous two years. The game screen in the film AND GOD CREATED WOMAN. was won before it started. A huge triumph before many others to come.

27TH FEBRUARY 1957 18TH APRIL 1961 Dalida performed at the Olympia for the very first time as an artist in her own right. She was billed as an At the town hall in the 16th arrondissement in Paris, “extra” in Charles Aznavour’s show. In fact, she was Dalida made her five-year relationship with Lucien Morisse official by marrying him. This was a happy occasion. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always turn out how you would expect and a month later, Dalida was invited to the Cannes Film Festival. There she spotted a young Polish painter, Jean Sobieski, in a . It was love at first sight! Dalida was under his spell. Their affair was soon uncovered by the paparazzi and the scandal broke, making the headlines in all the papers. Lucien Morisse was deeply hurt and decided to take his revenge by boycotting Dalida’s songs on the radio. Divorce was inevitable. Dalida left the marital home on Ankara Street, leaving the house to Lucien Morisse, and moved in to a rented apartment in Neuilly with Jean Sobieski. Thereafter, the friendship between the ex-spouses would reveal an unwavering attachment that was stronger than love.

6TH DECEMBER 1961

Richard Anthony opened for Dalida on her first night of a series of concerts at the Olympia. Not long before the curtain went up, a funeral wreath was delivered to Dalida’s dressing room with the inscription: “To the deceased song, long live Edith Piaf!” The shock was terrible. But Dalida didn’t let it show. On stage, she gave everything she had, more than ever before. By the time she got to the fourth song Je Me Sens Vivre the whole audience were on their feet.

That night she received a standing ovation, which only went to prove that whatever that wreath meant, it was just mental cruelty. The ultimate reward came simply the opening act. Bruno Coquatrix, an old hand from Piaf herself who congratulated Dalida and added at the music hall game, knew that it was impossible to with a smile: “After me, it will be you.” One month later, go from being a talented hopeful to a star overnight. If after a series of hugely successful concerts, the press you rush, you can fall from fame as fast as you rose. all agreed on the talent, hard work and tenacity of the So, instead, he followed a well thought out strategy singer they now called «the great lady of song». 16TH MAY 1962 of her career, Dalida triumphed once again at the Olympia. Michel Polnareff opened for her. Jacqueline While walking through hand in hand with Jean Sobieski, Dalida spotted a house on Rue Cartier wrote in the France Soir newspaper: “Dalida d’Orchampt. It had six floors, a turret and a small has killed off Mademoiselle Bambino.” garden with a view of the famous windmill, the Moulin The new Dalida was born! de la Galette. The house was for sale. Dalida took out all her savings and got a bank loan. Later on in life, she sometimes thought about selling that house, but never did. She stayed there till the day she died. THE INDIAN EPISODE On the 2ND NOVEMBER 1969, Dalida was the «Sunday Guest» on French television. She was SUMMER 1966 interviewed by the writer, Arnaud Desjardins. Dalida and Luigi Tenco first met that summer on the set His book The Ways of Wisdom, in which he told of a TV show in Rome. She was there performing Bang the story of how his was initiated into spirituality Bang her hit record at the time. They barely noticed by the Tibetan sage Swami Prajnanpad captured each other. It was only in September of the same year Dalida’s imagination. In front of the cameras, that Dalida really got to know him. The young Italian she seemed more interested in talking about singer- was introduced to her by the bosses Buddhism than answering the questions he was of her Italian record company. Dalida immediately asking her. A few weeks later, she decided to fell for Luigi and the feeling was mutual. He was follow Arnaud Desjardins to India to spend time handsome, young and moody with a hoarse voice and dark skin and eyes. At the end of the dinner that she had organised at her house in Montmartre, she agreed to sponsor Luigi Tenco at the next San Remo Festival and sing the song that he had composed, Ciao, Amore Ciao. From then on, Dalida and Luigi never left each other’s sides. They had a passionate and secret love affair. A love affair that would become legendary, when Luigi brutally ended his life.

LUIGI TENCO, HER GREAT LOVE ON 26TH FEBRUARY 1967, people in France were astonished to learn that Dalida had tried to end her life. She had rented a room in a luxury hotel in Paris, The Prince of Wales, and swallowed a tube of sleeping pills. The maid discovered her twenty-four hours later, just in time. She spent the next five days in hospital in a coma. Little by little, the truth came out. She had wanted to join Luigi Tenco, the man she loved. He had shot himself in the head when the song she sung with him, Ciao, Amore Ciao, was eliminated in the first round of the San Remo Festival. On February 7th, she had made an appearance on TV programme Les Palmares des Chanson hosted by Guy Lux, as if nothing had happened. She showed no signs of the depression that led her to try and end her life. On 8th June, dressed in a long white dress, she was back on television. She sang Les Grilles de Ma Maison with a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes.

5TH OCTOBER 1967

Wearing a long white dress, which was a big contrast with the outfits she wore during the first ten years in an ashram. There she considered giving up her Dalida - who, since their divorce had maintained a career and devoting her life to meditation. But a close relationship with her ex-husband - experienced meeting with Swami Prajnanpad made her change this tragedy as another drama in her personal life. He her mind. He managed to convince her to return to was the second “love of her life” to commit suicide. A her own true path of wisdom, which was on stage few years later, Dalida confessed to her closest friends where her public was asking for her. that she regretted leaving Lucien Morisse: “When you’re young, you don’t realize. He was the man I could have grown old with.”

24TH NOVEMBER 1971

On the Champs-Elysees, posters 90-feet long and 12-feet high announced Dalida’s long-awaited return to the Olympia with as the opening act. Her fans and the press approved her new repertoire, which was full of texts that she had chosen for their poetic value. She was nicknamed “the queen of the theatre”,“a modern Phaedra.” However, Bruno Coquatrix didn’t hide his surprise. He wasn’t convinced about this change of style. He had even refused to produce the show and decided just to rent out his venue to Orlando and his sister. Yet later, being the good sport he was, he recognised his mistake and told “Dali” she could return to the Olympia whenever she liked, without ever having to pay a single penny again.

RICHARD, THE COUNT OF SAINT-GERMAIN IT WAS THROUGH FRIENDS THAT SHE HAD INVITED TO DINNER AT HER HOUSE ON OCTOBER 21ST 1972, that Dalida first met Richard Chanfray. He introduced himself to her as the reincarnation of the Count of Saint-Germain, and claimed to be able to change base metal into gold. He added that he was born a thousand years ago. They fell head of heels in love and never left each other’s side from that moment on.

To the people who warned her against him during the nine years they spent together, Dalida would reply: “I love him, he’s available, he makes me 1ST JULY 1970 laugh, I’m no longer alone.”

The circle was complete. Her younger brother, Orlando, Richard was a tormented soul. One evening, was now her producer. He created a company called at the house in Montmartre, he shot a stranger that he had mistaken for a burglar. The man was, International Show, which later became Productions in fact, the housekeeper’s lover. Dalida bailed Orlando, a label under which he would release his Richard out of police custody. She then testified sister’s records. was the first in a long in his favour during the trial. He got off with a series of hit records on this label. one-year suspended prison sentence and a heavy fine. By then, their relationship was starting to unravel, but they kept it well hidden. They finally TH 11 SEPTEMBER 1970 separated in February 1981. Richard committed After a night at a casino and an argument with his suicide on July 20th, 1983. The third “love of her wife Agathe, Lucien Morisse shot himself in the head. life” to end his life. 17TH JANUARY 1973 – PAROLES, PAROLES DISCO DALIDA Orlando brought the song Parole, Parole back from On January 12th 1976 J’attendrai was released. Italy where he had spent his holidays the previous Orlando came up with the idea to do a cover July. He had heard the song during the end credits version of a song by Rina Ketty that he listened to of a TV show. He immediately got in touch with the as a child in Cairo on the family radio, and put it to French publisher and got them to put the song aside a modern disco beat. In Montreal, while on tour in for Dalida. She listened to it and called her friend Alain , Dalida and Orlando learned in the press Delon. He knew the song as he had recently come back that they had just made the first French disco from Italy where he had been filming Indian Summer. record. Disco was the new big thing in all the He was delighted that Dalida had thought of him. The in New York and had already started to song was recorded in a few hours. When they were filter through to Germany. Reassured by the huge younger, they had lived close by to each other near the success of J’attendrai, which went to number Champs-Élysées. And in the early sixties, they had had one in the charts in January 1976 in France and a brief and very discreet lover affair in Rome. throughout Europe, Orlando felt that disco really Paroles, Paroles broke all record sales both in France suited his sister. He repeated the experiment on and abroad, particularly in Japan where Alain was March 20th 1978, with the release of Generation revered as a living god. The expression “parole, 78. On this record, Dalida did a cover version parole” soon entered into the mainstream and is now of an old time hit, in a duet with Bruno Guillain. often used to talk about politicians who often make That summer it was a hit in all the nightclubs. A promises but never keep them. year later, Dalida did it again. Laissez-moi Danser (Monday Tuesday) was released on June 15th 1979.

18TH JANUARY 1974

Hidden behind the of Il Venait d’Avoir 18 ans written by Pascal Sevran, Pascal Auriat and Serge Lebrail) was a genuine love story that up until then was unknown to everyone except for Dalida’s brother Orlando and her cousin, secretary and confidante, Rosy. In December 1967, Dalida met a young Italian man called Lucio. In many ways he reminded her of her dead lover, Luigi Tenco. Lucio was also a fervent admirer of his. Their friendship soon transformed into a love affair. The only problem was that Lucio was 12 years her junior. Dalida got pregnant and decided not to keep the baby as she though that Lucio was too young to be a father. He would never know about the pregnancy. Dalida went on to regret this decision for the rest of her life, when, after her abortion, she learned that she could no longer have children.

18TH FEBRUARY 1974

This album, which had been recorded at the Olympia one month earlier, contained the longest song in the By the end of the summer, it had gone platinum. history of music-hall: Gigi L’Amoroso. It lasted a whole This success led Dalida to take on the craziest 8 minutes! To finish off the album, Dalida wanted a challenge of her career: eighteen huge shows at song that would give her the opportunity to both sing the Palais des Sports in Paris. She was the first and act on stage. Orlando appealed to Dalida’s writing woman to perform every night in front of 4,000 team (Michaele, Lana and Paul Sebastian) to work on people. Accompanied by thirty musicians and an idea. The public went crazy. The critics gave credit twelve dancers, she changed costumes twelve to the basis of a play that Pagnol could have written and that Vittorio de Sica could have directed on the times in the space of two hours “A dazzling big screen. The title became a social phenomenon. show that will remain firmly etched in people’s Recorded in six languages, it went straight to the top memories, like a model of the genre,” the critics of the charts in twelve countries. wrote. 10TH MAY 1981 29TH SEPTEMBER 1986

Dalida celebrated the election of her friend, François Dalida went to Choubra and to Le Moderne, the cinema Mitterrand, the new French president. On May 21st where, as a child, she had dreamed of becoming an she stood in the front row at the Pantheon during the actress. Her dream had come true. There she was up swearing in ceremony. This made a lasting impression. on the big screen at the premiere of ’s She wasn’t involved in politics in any way, but she paid filmTHE SIXTH DAY. Three million Egyptians celebrate a high price for her friendship with the president. Some her success. She is hailed as “a great actress and of the press even went as far as wanting to boycott tragedian.” her. To calm things down, Dalida decided to go on a major tour overseas for the next eighteen months. Released in France on November 16th, this film was highly acclaimed by the critics but only drew in small numbers of film-lovers. 17TH JANUARY 1983

th Dalida celebrated her 50 birthday. A rite of passage, 3RD MAY 1987 which she felt deep within her soul was more a day of sadness than of joy. She was living alone, knowing Dalida deceived the vigilance of her loved ones and that she could never have children or adopt them. Her ended her own life. She left a suicide note on the entourage knew that something was broken inside her. bedside table in her bedroom: “Life has become Whether on stage or on television, her performances unbearable. Forgive me.” had become rather mechanical. DALIDA Sveva ALVITI

ORLANDO Riccardo SCAMARCIO

LUCIEN MORISSE Jean-Paul ROUVE

RICHARD CHANFRAY Nicolas DUVAUCHELLE

LUIGI TENCO Alessandro BORGHI

ROSY Valentina CARLI

LUCIO Brenno PLACIDO

JEAN SOBIESKI Niels SCHNEIDER

PIETRO Vittorio HAMARZ VASFI

ORLANDO (elder brother) Davide LORINO

GIUSEPPINA GIGLIOTTI Haydee BORELLI

With special appearances by EDDIE BARCLAY Vincent PEREZ

BRUNO COQUATRIX Patrick TIMSIT Director Lisa AZUELOS Screenplay, adaptation Lisa AZUELOS and dialogues in collaboration with ORLANDO

Librement adapté de « Dalida. Mon Frère, tu écriras mes mémoires » de Madame Catherine RIHOIT et Monsieur Bruno GIGLIOTTI, dit ORLANDO. Editions Plon Music Jeanne TRELLU Jaco ZIJLSTRA Cinematography Antoine SANIER Production design Emile GHIGO First assistant director Joseph RAPP Script supervisor Isabelle QUERRIOUX Costume design Emmanuelle YOUCHNOVSKI Film editing Thomas FERNANDEZ Sound recordist Vincent GOUJON Executive producer Philippe GUEZ Produced by Julien MADON Lisa AZUELOS Jérôme SEYDOUX

Co-producers BETHSABEE MUCHO

Co-producers Nadia KHAMLICHI Gilles WATERKEYN Bastien SIRODOT Romain LE GRAND Vivien ASLANIAN

Co-production BETHSABÉE MUCHO PATHÉ PRODUCTION TF1 FILMS PRODUCTION UMEDIA UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING

With the participation of CANAL+ TF1 OCS HD1

In association with RAI CINEMA LES PRODUCTIONS ORLANDO UFUND JOUROR

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY DELIA PRINGLE GARNIER [email protected] © PHOTOS DP : LUC ROUX © PHOTOS BIOGRAPHIE DALIDA : PRODUCTION ORLANDO / D.R