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L'ÎLE DE LA DEMOISELLE

By Micha WALD

Action/Adventure - Development 2018

Inspired by a true story. It’s 1542. Marguerite de Roberval, a young French noblewoman is cast away with her maid and her lover on a desolate island off the Canadian coast. She will have to use all her intelligence and resources to survive there for over two year…

- Year of production
- 2018
- Genres
- Action/Adventure, Historical, Drama
- Countries
- BELGIUM
- Languages
- FRENCH
- Director(s)
- Micha WALD
- Writer(s)
- Samuel MALHOURE
- Synopsis
- 1542, Marguerite de la Roque de Roberval (20), is on her way to Canada aboard La Valentine, a caravel headed by her uncle Jean-François de Roberval (future viceroy of Canada) commissioned by François I to “build towns and fortresses, churches and temples”.
  Marguerite falls in love with Thomas d’Artois. She manages to hide her affair from her uncle who has plans to marry her but as the ship approaches the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River, Roberval learns of her secret. Protestant, career soldier, authoritarian and jealous, he decides to abandon the young woman and her servant, Damienne, on the Isle of Demons. The two women are dropped off there with their belongings, food for a few weeks and some equipment. On this subarctic island, the two women are condemned to certain death. Thomas rebels against Roberval, who throws him into the water. He almost drowns but manages to make it to island.
  The Isle of Demons is a wild island. The continent is nearby but unattainable without a vessel. The three face extreme circumstances and a world they do not know. They take steps to survive, finding shelter, food, fresh water, and ways to pass the time. With Damienne’s help, Marguerite gives birth to a baby boy, Clément.
  Winter sets in, bringing an almost unreal polar cold. Relations between Thomas, Damienne and Marguerite quickly break down. Marguerite alone manages to survive but her condition deteriorates. Later, she is saved by a Chipweyan tribe from the north, who remove her from the island. Marguerite discovers a matriarchal, animist society whose rules are a long way from her constrained upbringing.
  But French soldiers massacre several natives and abduct Marguerite, leaving her son in the native camp. Marguerite is taken to the French colony. Roberval’s expedition has been a fiasco. He decides to take his niece back to France with him. On the ship, Marguerite defies Roberval and a violent conflict breaks out. The young woman escapes from the boat to return in search of her son.
- Production schedule
- 2018/2019