Swede retreat

hey say you should “write what you know”, and Mia Hansen-Løve’s perceptive portrait of a woman grappling with how to succeed as an artist, partner and parent is self-described “auto-fiction”. The French was in the New Zealand International Film Festival in 2016) knows what it is to be in a relationship with another filmmaker – her former partner is director Olivier Assayas – and the challenges faced by those women directors balancing motherhood with a career. These are the preoccupations of Vicky Krieps’ Chris, who arrives on the Swedish Baltic Sea island Fårö with filmmaker husband Tony (Tim Roth) as writers in residence.