Mademoiselle Paradis

Vienna, 1777. The true story of blind 18-year-old 'Wunderkind' pianist Maria Theresia Paradis, who lost her  eyesight overnight when she was just three years old, while at the same time developing her extraordinary talent for music. With her family determined to find a cure, she is forced to undergo countless failed medical experiments before being brought before controversial 'miracle doctor' Franz Anton Mesmer. Enticed by this last prospect and painfully accustomed to a world that places greater emphasis on physical appearance than personality and talent, she goes along with the program. But it soon becomes clear that Mesmer’s treatments come at a cost - eyesight improvements are taking away her musical ability.

Barbara Albert crafts a gem of a period drama, plunging viewers into the hyper-constraints of an 18th-century Austrian high-society in which hypocrisy and patriarchy run wild. Delightfully written, tightly wound and overflowing with dramatic tension, MADEMOISELLE PARADIS is also an impressive showcase of production design and costumes.