How the Toronto women of Babe Nation films got the beautiful, buzzy ‘Bonjour Tristesse' made
When 'Bonjour Tristesse' premiered at TIFF last September, director Durga Chew-Bose described the indie film's Toronto producers Katie Bird Nolan and Lindsay Tapscott as 'very persistent.' And even a glance at the trajectory of their production company, Babe Nation, shows that their persistence has paid off — they've been pursuing this film for nine years, almost as long as they've been a company.
'Bonjour Tristesse,' out in cinemas May 2, is an adaptation of the beloved 1954 French novel by Françoise Sagan. Starring Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang and Lily McInerny, it centres around 17-year-old protagonist Cécile and her inchoate notions about womanhood, sensuality and freedom. The story unfolds over one formative summer when Cécile's father, his girlfriend, and her late mother's longtime friend all come together under the same roof. After its world premiere at TIFF, the film continued on a festival tour with stops at Palm Springs and Goteborg, garnering buzz along the way.
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