“Little Joe” is a 2019 British-Austrian SF drama film directed by the Austrian Film Director Jessica Hausner.
It was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
“Austrian director Jessica Hausner returns to the essence of genre with her fifth feature Little Joe, which deals with issues of reality vs. identity complicated by a genetically engineered plant and how its scattered seeds begin to have notable effects on the living creatures it comes into contact with”.
“A genetically engineered plant scatters its seeds and seems to cause uncanny changes on living creatures. The afflicted appear strange, as if they were replaced – especially for those, who are close to them. Or is it all just imagination?”
“At the center of Jessica Hausner’s LITTLE JOE are the ambitious plant researcher Alice and a unique plant created by her that could bring her a scientific breakthrough or even fatal effects on the environment.”
“Alice, a single mother, is a dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a very special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value: if kept at the ideal temperature, fed properly and spoken to regularly, this plant makes its owner happy. Against company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe.
They christen it ‘Little Joe’ but as it grows, so too does Alice’s suspicion that her new creation may not be as harmless as their nickname suggests.”
With Emily Beecham as Alice, Ben Whishaw as Chris, Leanne Best as Brittany, Lindsay Duncan as Psychotherapist, Kerry Fox, David Wilmot, Kit Connor, Goran Kostic, Sebastian Hulk, Phénix Brossard, Jason Cloud, Jessie-Mae Alonzo, Andrew Rajan.
(L-R) Emily Beecham, Director Jessica Hausner, Phenix Brossard, Kerry Fox and Kit Connor attend the screening of “Little Joe” during the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2019 in Cannes, France.
(May 16, 2019 – Source: Getty Images Europe)
Jessica Hausner (born 6 October 1972) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. She received international attention in 2001 when her film “Lovely Rita”, a portrait of a young girl who feels confined by family constraints, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
Three years later she returned to Cannes with her film “Hotel“.
Her 2014 film “Amour Fou” (Mad Love) was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
Jessica Hausner is the daughter of Viennese painter Rudolf Hausner, sister of costume designer Tanja Hausner and half sister of set designer and painter Xenia Hausner. She studied at FilmAcademy Vienna. With fellow directors Barbara Albert and Antonin Svoboda and director of photography Martin Gschlacht, she founded the Viennese film production company coop99 in 1999. 2017 she was appointed a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
In 2002 she was a member of the jury at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival. In 2016, she was a member of the jury for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
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