First Ladies

The film reveals a little of the private lives of the nine First Ladies of the Fifth Republic. Nine women of flesh and blood, far removed from the glossy clichés and caricatures they have been subjected to.

Set against the backdrop of Paris by night and the silent Élysée Palace, both in the present and in archive footage, they share their personal stories with us. What does it mean to be First Lady? Each woman, with her own era and personality, took on this role in her own way.

This choral narrative highlights what shaped them, their strengths and their weaknesses. They recount their relationship with power, love, loneliness, silence, cruelty, privilege, courtiers, seduction, courage, rebellion, illusions, lies, violence, and destiny. Their intimate, family, and public stories resonate with and intertwine with one another. This unique tapestry offers a new, both historical and intimate, account of the Elysée Palace and the Fifth Republic.