In development · Period piece trilogy
Elisabeth Charlotte d’Orléans
From Heidelberg to Versailles – the story of a woman who never stopped looking closely. A trilogy of three feature films: Liselotte, Madame and La Mère du Régent.
Part 1 · Screenplay completed
Liselotte
Childhood and youth in Heidelberg and Hanover – until a marriage contract takes her to France.
Part 2
Madame
As Duchess of Orléans – “Madame” – Liselotte lives at the court of Louis XIV, at the heart of power in Versailles.
Part 3
La Mère du Régent
After the death of Louis XIV, her son Philippe becomes Regent of France – and Liselotte the mother of the Regent.
Part 1 · Liselotte · Logline
Born in 1652 in the aftermath of the Thirty Years’ War, Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate grows up between a father who loves her but does not see her, and a mother who sees her but cannot keep her. A marriage contract tears her away from Heidelberg to Versailles and turns a child who learned early to look away and stay silent into a woman who never stopped looking closely.
Written by Oliver Mahrdt
The story
Heidelberg, 1652
At the court of Elector Charles Louis a war is raging: he and Electress Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel, long estranged by temperament and disappointment, fight their marital war over protocol, money, etiquette and access to the children. Liselotte learns the grammar of this world early: who speaks, who stays silent, who wins, who stays.
When the Elector falls in love with the lady-in-waiting Louise von Degenfeld and the marriage breaks apart, he sends his daughter to his sister Sophie in Hanover. The wise, patient aunt does not shape Liselotte – she gives her tools: languages, poise and the art of reading a room before entering it.
At eleven, Liselotte returns from Hanover after her mother has left Heidelberg Castle. At nineteen, on the terrace of Heidelberg Castle, she learns that her marriage contract has been negotiated: with Philippe, Duke of Orléans, brother of Louis XIV. The journey to France begins.
“This child does not break … it bends. It resists in its own way. Quietly, without noise, without the others noticing.”
Format
Trilogy
A historical period piece in three feature films: Liselotte · Madame · La Mère du Régent.
Locations
Heidelberg · Hanover · Versailles
From the Electoral Palatinate to the French royal court.
Status
In development
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