When dealing with the loss of a loved one, is it better to be paralysed by grief, unable to function in your normal life, or feel guilty about moving on? When the loss is sudden, how do you make sense of what has happened, why it happened, and whether things could have turned out differently? Are there limits to loving someone who is no longer there?

Written by Gaël Morel and Christophe Honoré, After Him tells the story of Camille, a bookshop owner in Lyon whose son Mathieu is killed in a car accident. Rather than blame her son’s best friend Franck, who was behind the wheel at the time, Camille becomes obsessed with him. But what is at stake for them both?

Lead actress Catherine Deneuve will be in Melbourne today (Tuesday, 18 March) to introduce a special screening of the film, part of the nationwide French Film Festival.

"Catherine Deneuve is the living embodiment of all that is great about France’s film industry," said Jean-Jacques Garnier, Cultural Attaché to the French Consulate-General and the Festival’s Artistic Director. "Her visit will make the 2008 a profoundly memorable occasion."

Born in Paris in 1943, Deneuve first appeared onscreen at the age of 13. She has worked with renowned directors such as François Truffaut, Roman Polanski, and Lars von Trier. Winning the Cesar Award twice, an Academy Award and many others, Deneuve has represented France both in the film industry and as the nation’s Marianne, the French Republic’s emblem, from 1985 to 1989.

Her decision to play the role of Camille in After Him was because it was a screenplay she couldn’t forget or push aside. "I thought the subject was really tough," she explains. "I was scared I wouldn’t be able to stand it, that I wouldn’t be able to take it on."

Describing Deneuve as "an actress who does not like to be flattered," director and co-writer Gaël Morel was glad that she had accepted the role. "Catherine asked the right questions about the role, the screenplay and her ability to commit to a subject like this," he says. "The story obviously moved her, maybe even scared her."

Based loosely on personal experience, Morel recounts his initials ideas for the film. "I was more or less inspired by something that happened in the small village where I’m from," he explains. "Kids coming home from a nightclub had a car accident. One of them was killed and his mother totally rejected the other passengers who survived. I imagined the contrary."

While it is easy to blame or resent those who continue to live, losing someone is also a stark reminder that each moment on earth is precious. Rather than dwell on the past in an attempt to comprehend actions which cannot be changed, one must continue living despite the aching void that cannot be replaced.

Deneuve explains that it was Camille’s determination to live that moved her. "Mourning has to be done, it has to be experienced," she says, "but she [Camille] decides to get on with things very fast – which has its dangers, especially for her. She didn’t have a choice. If she hadn’t done it, she would have been crushed by the weight of her grief."

Franck, played by Thomas Dumerchez, becomes part of the grieving process for Camille. "Making her son live through Franck is her way of seeing and experiencing what he could have been, what he should have been and what he could have become," Deneuve says.

And yet, it is Camille’s determination to pay tribute to her twenty-year-old son that stops her from moving on completely. Caring too much for Franck, despite it being an act of love, means that Camille cannot leave the ghost of Mathieu behind. "Love can be very suffocating," Deneuve says. "Especially love that apparently has no ulterior motive.”

Haunting, introspective and tragic, After Him explores the painful journey of recovery and self-discovery after an unexpected, heart-breaking loss.

Catherine Deneuve will introduce After Him at the Palace Cinema Como in Melbourne on Tuesday, 18 March, at 8pm. She will then visit Canberra, to introduce the film at Greater Union Manuka on Thursday, 20 March, at 7pm.

For more information visit www.frenchfilmfestival.org