Stéphane Caillard plays her and Géraldine Danon directs her. Florence Arthaud (1957-2015) lives again in Flo, biopic discovered at the last Cannes Film Festival. The navigator, nicknamed “The Little Bride of the Atlantic”, is not shown in a hagiographic way in this biopic which nevertheless pays a vibrant tribute to her. “I wanted to portray a free woman who refused the labels that society wanted to attach to her,” explains the director to 20 minutes. Friend of Florence Arthaud, she wanted to show her as she knew her.
“She was a really good woman who wouldn’t deny herself anything,” she remembers. And a great lover. Florence wanted a film about her life and I tried to pay her the best tribute possible. » She found the perfect interpreter in the person of Stéphane Caillard, who finds here his first major role on screen.
“I knew she was the winner of the Route du Rhum and a great sailor,” explains the actress. I also had memories of covers of She, so I had the image of a somewhat trendy icon. » All these facets of this great lady vibrant with life appear in a feature film which also gives a good part to the navigation scenes. If Géraldine Danon signs her first fiction here, she is known for her marine documentaries.
“Florence was always in search of truth,” insists Géraldine Danon. This is what the viewer feels when discovering the personality of the navigator whose strengths and flaws the director and actress reveal.