The Isle of the Demoiselle
1542, third mission of Jacques Cartier to Canada.
Pregnant by a man other than her future husband, commander of the expedition, young Marguerite de la Rocque is abandoned on a desert island off the coast of Newfoundland with the man who raped her and his attendant.
She stayed there for two years, surviving hunger, cold, despair and madness.
This film is inspired by a true story.
| Genre | Drama |
| Language | French |
| Executive Producers | Stenola Productions |
| Coproduction | KG Productions, CZAR TV |
| Selections | Rencontre de la coproduction francophone (CANADA), Berlinale Talents (GERMANY), EAVE (EUROPE) |
| Partners | Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, le Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, The cinema and audiovisual center of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), la RTBF, Proximus, Be tv, Canal +, Ciné +, Région Bretagne, Taxsheter.be and SG Image 2023 |
| Distribution | The Joker |
| International sales | Pulsar Content |
| Release | 25 march 2026 |
“From the first page, I knew that this film was for me. Everything in this story spoke to me. Page after page, I saw the film unfold in my head. The Isle of the Demoiselle is at the same time an epic adventure film, a medieval survival, a reflection on religion, a thriller and a huis clos with three characters imprisoned on a hostile island”
Micha Wald
“In writing the screenplay for The Isle of the Demoiselle, I want to portray a young woman who has achieved a tour de force: to stay alive on a wild island for almost two years, at a time of ignorance. But behind this feminine Robinson Crusoe hides another motivation: to show the emancipation of a young woman of the 16th century.”
Samuel Malhoure
Crew
| Director | Micha Wald |
| Script | Samuel Malhoure, Agnès Caffin, Micha Wald |
| Director of Photography | Joachim Philippe |
| 1st Assistant Director | Matthias Morard |
| Script Supervisor | Salomé Bellemans |
| Set Design | Helena Cisterne |
| Sound Engineer | Jan Deca |
| Editing | Alain Desauvage |
| Sound Design | Alex Goosse |
| Costumes | Tzigane De Braconier |
| Producers | Anton Iffland Stettner, Eva Kuperman, Alexandre Gavras, Eurydice Gysel |
| Production Director | Gladys Brookfield-Hampson |
| Post-production Director | Olan Bowland |
Cast
| Salomé Dewaels | |
| Louis Peres | |
| Candice Bouchet | |
| Alexandra Lamy | |
| Patrick Descamps |
Festivals
| Belgium | FFO26 - Ostend Film Festival |
| Belgium | Love International Film Festival Mons |