Your Name Is Justine (2005)

Your Name is Justine (Polish: Masz na imię Justine) is a 2005 Luxembourgish film directed by Franco de Peña. De Peña had originally wanted to produce the film in Germany, but when he was unable to garner enough funds, he came to Luxembourg. The film was co-produced by Luxembourg Hemisphere Films and Polish Opus Film, and shot primarily in Luxembourg with the aid of numerous local technicians. As a result of the multifaceted production, the dialogue of the movie is in English, German and Polish. The plot of the story revolves around a girl called Mariola (Anna Cieslak), who is forced into prostitution in Berlin, and attempts to hold on to her sense of self despite being exploited by those around her.

The film was Luxembourg's submission to the 79th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Although previous submissions (such as Italy's Private) had been rejected due to not being in the official language of the country, the Academy removed the requirement for the 79th Academy Awards, allowing Your Name is Justine and other films such as Canada's Water (which contained only Hindi dialogue) to be submitted. However, the film was rejected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences before the formal review process. The Academy determined that there was not enough creative contribution from Luxembourg to qualify under the Academy's requirements, which stress that a "submitting country must certify that creative talent of that country exercised artistic control of the film." Joy Hoffman, the head of Luxembourg's foreign-language Oscar committee, was disappointed by the rejection. Although he accepted the notion that the film was a "borderline entry", he noted that "without Luxembourg the film wouldn't exist".

Synopsis

While living with her grandmother in Poland, a young woman, Mariola (Anna Cieslak) falls in love. Her boyfriend, Niko (Arno Frisch) is charming and suggests they travel around Europe and work here and there to pay for their trip. Unfortunately, Niko isn't as he seems and Mariola is sold as a prostitute when they cross over to Germany. We follow her ordeal as she tries to free herself and to stay sane as time goes by and her captors try to break and condition her to a new life of servitude.

Acteurs