DAYS OF HAPPINESS

With Sophie Desmarais, Sylvain Marcel

The privileged world of classical music is the setting for drama on and off the concert stage as Emma (Desmarais), a young rising star conductor, makes a misstep that may put her dream of a prestigious new job in peril.  Emma’s controversial program for the final concert of her residency triggers a fraught confrontation with her personal demons, including her relationships with her controlling father/manager and her lesbian lover. Actor Desmarais was coached by conductors Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kensho Watanabe, and Nicolas Ellis to master her conducting movements. The film’s soaring music includes pieces by Mozart, Schoenberg, and Mahler.  In French with English subtitles.