Le Sourire de Déborah

15-year-old Deborah has been afflicted from birth with Moebius Syndrome. This incurable genetic disease paralyzes the facial muscles. She cannot smile, nor move her lips when she speaks and has a fixed stare. Deborah is no longer a child that love alone can protect. She must cope with her handicap alone and build her life. In an exchange of letters with Paule, a woman forty years her senior who has the same disease, Deborah describes her daily battle against isolation. This subjective, intimate and committed correspondence takes us through six months in Deborah’s life. And if Deborah is forthright with Paule, it’s not merely because they share the “same disease and the same ups and downs that come with it..” It is also because both know better than anyone else that withdrawal into one’s self is even more unbearable than their handicap. It is no doubt this conviction that allows them to give us access to their letters with no regard to propriety.

France - 2003 - 53 mn - 16 mm - Colour

Director
Hubert Dubois
Script
Stéphane Munka, Hubert Dubois
Camera
Hubert Dubois, Camille Dubois
Sound
Khaled Senoussi
Editing
Jean-Antoine Boyer
Music
Hubert Dubois

Production
Galaxie Presse,
76, rue du Faubourg St Denis,
75010 Paris, France
Tél : +33 (0)1 4483 0727
Fax : +33 (0)1 4483 0725
E-mail : red.chef@galaxie-presse.fr

Co-Production
France 2

with the participation of
France 3 Alsace

Sales
Europe Images International,
24, quai Alphonse Le Gallo,
92513 Boulogne cedex, France
Tél : +33 (0)1 5595 5827
Fax : +33 (0)1 5595 5810
E-mail : emilie.huc@europeimages.com