No Signal
Sitting in her kitchen, Marie-Thérèse realizes she misses everything except her husband. She wanted to be the Princess of Monaco, but after being unhappily wed for seventy years, she must accept she is not.
A woman has seemingly waited all her life for something to come, but nothing changes, not even the person who burdened her the most, her husband. Marie-Thérèse is cynical and quite unpleasant, but oddly enough, we come to identify with and care about her as filmmaker Adrien Genoudet captures her with kindness and respect.
With a protagonist who we might love and hate simultaneously, this short documentary feels like an essay film that tackles patriarchy, entrapping relationships, and procrastination. No Signal is bittersweet and confronts us with the existential agony of time flying away too fast; an authentic presentation of a life riddled with fear and regrets—funny and sad all at once. Genoudets film can also be seen as a gripping narrative reversal of Michael Haneke’s Amour. When Marie-Thérèse’s husband dies, she actually feels free for the first time.
Thanasis Neofotistos is a filmmaker, writer, and architect. His short films have premiered and competed in acclaimed festivals such as Venice, Sundance, Locarno, Toronto, Busan, and Clermont-Ferrand. Neofotistos is a programmer of the Drama International Short Film Festival, member of the European Film Academy, and a Berlinale Talents alumnus.