Film Festivals

Off Set 2018 TIFF Portrait Series: Mothers’ Instinct (Duelles)

Published on September 21, 2018

A dozen years after he premiered his directorial debut in Cages (2006) at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, Olivier Masset-Depasse reteamed with his muse Anne Coesens for his third feature. Mothers’ Instinct (French title of Duelles is more fitting for the competitive nature of the film between the two matriarchs) comes after his early film career defining moment Illegal (Cannes Film Fest title that would become the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar). This latest film is a definite genre item embracing all the elements you’d fine in a Hitch thriller, but in amped up bourgeoisie milieu and actress Veerle Baetens (from The Broken Circle Breakdown fame) is hyperventilate bliss in the lead. Here is our photo shoot with Masset-Depasse and his screen pair.

Olivier Masset-Depasse, DUELLES / Photo © Marie France L’Ecuyer IONCINEMA

Anne Coesens, DUELLES / Photo © Marie France L’Ecuyer IONCINEMA

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).