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00:00 I'm Thomas Knepper, I'm the director of The Widow Clico.

00:08 My name is Hayley and I am the producer of Widow Clico and I also star in the film.

00:15 Widow Clico is the story of one of the founding mothers of modern champagne.

00:21 The founding mother.

00:23 She was one of the inventors of what we now know as champagne and among other things,

00:30 invented branding, global export and is an iconic figure from French culture and global culture.

00:39 And it's the story of her life, her early life, counterpointed with her life taking over the vineyard and creating Verve Clico.

00:49 I find this a really, really bold and exciting new chapter.

00:57 Starting right here at Toronto Film Festival to premiere this film that means so much to me.

01:03 Something that I developed and something that I brought this film to life.

01:10 From the screen, from a book to the screen and then to life as the character.

01:15 I just love the depth in which I can dive into these experiences.

01:21 The collaboration aspect, I think, is something that really excites me.

01:28 And having a vision and speaking to Verve Clico herself, she was this visionary woman.

01:35 I think that she really inspired me to do things.

01:39 She did things her way despite the fact that she was terrified every step of the way.

01:45 I think that's what makes you strong and that's what makes you more capable is to step into the fire.

01:51 It's how you go through the fire.

01:54 I do think that making films is like walking through the fire.

01:59 But making up your mind, deciding what projects you want.

02:03 And also, I think for me, am I talking too much?

02:07 It came from a necessity because I want to play fascinating roles.

02:13 And unfortunately, because of the business model of the industry,

02:21 it doesn't necessarily always champion new talent, new voices.

02:29 And so I have just found a path producing and developing my own projects

02:36 that I can carve out those opportunities for myself.

02:41 So the book, Widow Clico, is a New York Times bestseller.

02:47 It's a bestselling biography.

02:50 And my friend, Jackie, gave me the book whilst I was shooting Cyrano in Notto, Italy,

02:58 making Cyrano with Joe, who I also produced this film with.

03:03 And she said, "You have to play this woman."

03:07 And I read the book, and I expected champagne and luxury.

03:12 And what I found was this incredibly real, raw woman who I could just relate to so much

03:21 and that passion that she found and not taking no for an answer.

03:29 And that is kind of what my path was producing this film.

03:32 It's like you have to will it into existence.

03:35 And it's that kind of tenacity that allows you to really break through and break down walls.

03:42 And I think, you know, in some ways, that's what I'm kind of doing with my producing,

03:49 is breaking down barriers and not taking no for an answer

03:53 and not looking for anybody else's approval.

03:56 It's like, I'm going to do it my way, and I don't need anybody to hold my hand to do it.

04:02 And I think I really feel like I learn something from every character,

04:06 and I really learn that from Clico.

04:08 It was because she was a widow, it was because she was a woman,

04:11 it was because she was a young woman.

04:13 Fortunately, she had the law on her side, because it was a part of the Napoleonic Code.

04:18 The law allowed widows to run businesses.

04:22 So she used that to her advantage.

04:26 But there was a lot of adversity, a lot up against her.

04:29 And of course, she was also dealing with the grief and the death of her husband, François,

04:36 who died very tragically.

04:40 And I think she, in my opinion, she kind of blamed herself for that.

04:45 So I think she was up against self-doubt,

04:48 not only the kind of patriarchy or the patriarchal figures,

04:52 but I think she was also, and sometimes I think self-doubt can be our greatest adversity,

04:58 because there's these kind of external adversity,

05:04 and then there's the internal adversity,

05:07 which are the voices inside of our head that say,

05:09 "Give up. Don't do it. You're not good enough. You're not talented enough.

05:16 You don't have the guts. Let's let a man do it."

05:20 We also collaborated on a feature doc called Lost Angels,

05:26 which Joe produced as well, which was about Skid Row in Los Angeles.

05:28 So we've kind of danced around doing different projects with each other in different roles.

05:36 And when we started, way back when we started, and I was directing music videos,

05:41 he was my casting director.

05:42 So we've kind of had lots of different roles.

05:45 I was his storyboard artist when he first started making short films.

05:49 So we've danced around lots of different projects over the years.

05:53 It's the first time he's produced a narrative fiction, yeah.

05:56 I've watched Joe working on many films and watched very closely from standing next to him on,

06:03 I think, eight films or something.

06:04 So I've seen Joe working at very close quarters and how he preps.

06:10 And I think the thing that I have borrowed from him most closely is his diligence in prep

06:17 and how he approaches getting ready is sort of astonishing.

06:23 I mean, he's so prepped before he starts working.

06:26 So he's very influential to me in every aspect of my filmmaking, no doubt.

06:31 But we're different in other ways and we have our own personalities.

06:35 I think I'm probably a simpler director.

06:42 - He's very gentle. Joe, I've worked with you both.

06:45 - Worked with both, yeah.

06:46 - Joe as a director on Cyrano and Thomas as a director on Widow Cliqueau.

06:52 And Joe has made me cry and you never made me cry, thank you.

06:59 But just because I think, and I think I'll speak as the actor working with both of you,

07:08 there's not a choreography to...

07:12 There's...

07:13 Not that that's a bad thing.

07:15 I love kind of mapping out a scene.

07:19 I really loved mapping out scenes with Joe, but they are very choreographed,

07:26 which has a beauty to it and a rhythm that I find really exciting.

07:33 But I didn't feel that with you.

07:37 There is more of a kind of a fluidity, a freedom, a collaboration.

07:47 I'm being very careful with my words right now.

07:51 You know, you're not really on strings, right?

07:54 - Yes, yes, yeah.

07:55 - We've cut those down and there's...

07:59 It's very collaborative.

08:01 - It's kind of freedom, I think.

08:02 - But I definitely felt coming into Widow Cliqueau that it was, you know,

08:08 it had different incarnations as a bigger film that went to Russia and Amsterdam

08:13 and was global in its intention and focused in part on the war as well.

08:18 So there were scenes with soldiers and Russian soldiers and various elements.

08:23 And where the film ended up going and where the film takes us,

08:27 or the film that was revealed to us while we were editing,

08:30 was a film that was very contained.

08:32 And so it becomes a film about Madame Cliqueau's life on the farm,

08:37 the relationship to the vineyard, the house, the warehouse where she tastes,

08:42 and the work that takes place in those environments.

08:47 And we focus very heavily on how to bring the kind of diligence and the work

08:52 into all of the scenes.

08:54 So, you know, whatever qualities she has as a business person,

08:59 and she had many, as a winemaker, she was a super sniffer.

09:03 She had an incredible nose and was able to discern and to define not only

09:09 champagne, but also champagne going forward for many, many years.

09:14 And she was also an inventor.

09:15 So the process that she invented at the end of the film is how champagne is made

09:21 today in every champagne house in France.

09:24 They use the same technique to make every single bottle of wine.

09:28 Now, that's 220 years later.

09:31 Imagine inventing something that people use every day in 220 years from now.

09:36 It's an astonishing ideation.

09:39 It's an astonishingly original brain that came up with that.

09:43 And she was in her 20s when she did that.

09:46 So it's a portrait, not a biography.

09:49 It's a painting, not a documentary of an astonishing woman who is iconic.

09:56 She is a heroine of wine production.

10:00 And in France, she's a household name for good reason, I think.

10:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]

10:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Widow Clicquot | Deadline Studio at TIFF

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