“It’s about finding intimacy in places that we usually think it might not occur”: Jacques Audiard and Jehnny Beth on Paris, 13th District

Paris, 13^th District is a striking and original film from French director Jacques Audiard (Dheepan) that explores the trials and tribulations of romance in the modern era, set against the 1970s architecture of the Parisian neighbourhood of Les Olympiades. Shot in black-and-white, it follows the intertwining stories of three millennials: Emilie (Lucie Zhang), a Taiwanese-French woman who hates her call centre job and is living rent-free in her elderly grandmother’s apartment; Camille (Makita Zamba), the teacher who becomes Emilie’s flatmate and with whom she strikes up a no-strings-attached sexual relationship that becomes messy when she falls for him; and Nora (Noemie Merlant), a 30-something-year-old, whose decision to return to law school is thrown into disarray when a wig she wears to a party causes her to be mistaken for online porn actress Amber Sweet (actress and singer Jenny Beth), and draws a raft of unwanted attention.

It’s based on three graphic novel stories by American cartoonist Adrian Tomine, transposed to a French setting by Audiard, alongside screenwriters Céline Sciamma and Léa Mysius. The result is a frank and raunchily explicit look at how sex and relationships can be tricky to navigate in a time of blurred boundaries, sexualities and identities, and how technological mediums that can both help and hinder in finding connection with others. Each very human and flawed character has their own appeal – but it’s Merlant (as ever) whose Nora is the standout in a nuanced portrayal of a complex character searching for her place, and it’s her scenes with Beth (albeit mostly through a screen) that are the most affecting.

The Upcoming caught up with Audiard and Beth to discuss the inspiration behind the film, the characters and story it explores and what such a film has to say about romance in today’s world.  

Sarah Bradbury

Paris, 13^th District is released in select cinemas on 18^th March 2022.

Watch the trailer for Paris, 13^th District here: