A FILM STAR NAMED DESIRE 1 x 52’ HD

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-SALES& LICENSING DELIVERY: Q4 2019

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Two years after obtaining the rights to the best-selling novel Gone with the Wind, and at the end of a casting process of over 1,000 hopeful actresses that fascinated the American public, a Hollywood mogul chose… an unknown Englishwoman. She was 25 years old and had just snatched the most sought-after role in Hollywood away from the era’s biggest stars. A year later, the film pulled recordbreaking audiences, and the outsider became an instant star. Cruel and selfish, but passionate, brave, and beautiful in a modern way, became Scarlett, and the first Englishwoman to win an Oscar.

That same year, Vivien married , considered the best British actor of his generation. Their love story entwined fiery passion and a professional collaboration that would shape the British theatrical scene and make them the most famous couple after the King and Queen. Vivien was one of the few ac- tresses who was equally successful in films and theatre, playing everything from Cleopatra on screen and Ophelia on stage. Then she left her mark on film history again, in . Constantly on the cusp of a nervous breakdown, simpering one moment, terrified or haggard the next, Vivien’s perfor- mance is deeply moving. Her portrayal of Blanche left a lasting impression and in some ways, became tied to her reality. It was then that dark stories – some based on truth, others pure invention – began to spring up in London, stories that feed scandalous biographies and sensational journalism to this day. It was in a state of great emotional and mental fragility that Vivien won the Oscar for Best Actress in 1952 for her role as Blanche Dubois, 12 years after winning for her role in Gone with the Wind.

THE TECHNIQUE To recount the life of Vivien Leigh intimately, we have access to exceptional materials that have never been filmed before: 90 boxes of Leigh’s personal archives that had been preserved in London’s V&A Museum: photos and home movies, diaries, scripts, film posters and more… including her correspondence with Lau- rence. Nearly 200 letters express the power of their love and the intensity of their relationship. The idea is to show them as eyewitnesses to a love story, rather than as lifeless archives. Still, how do you explain the unspeakable? How do you present Vivien’s mood swings and bipolar episodes? Through the imagination of a true creative and their drawings. The drawings won’t be just illustrative, but will sometimes – wheth- er in a poetic or realistic way – enable us to enter Vivien’s psyche (e.g. her paranoia). The drawings will be introduced by the archive materials that precede them.

This is a window into a life made up of fame and tragedy, one that is now remembered for the omnipresent ghosts of her illness, her impossibly quintessential coupling, and her unforgettable, iconic roles.

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