French actress Ascaride honored for portraying women's dignity

France's Ariane Ascaride, honored with the Volpi Cup for Best Actress during the closing ceremony at the 76th Venice Film Festival, said: "With my character I want to give visibility and pay homage to these invisible female heroes that you certainly meet every day but are not able to see."

"I come from that world and when I act, I am talking about my grandmother who, even when she was 70 years old, was doing an exhausting cleaning job at 5 a.m.," Ascaride told Xinhua in an interview about her film "Gloria Mundi", which was presented in competition in Venice.

The film is centered on the hardships a contemporary French family has to face while trying to survive in a world where it is easy to be fired and lose financial stability. In such a world, even good news like the birth of a baby can become a problem for the future.

Ascaride plays the role of Sylvie, a hardworking mother who devotes her life to supporting her family members who are financially suffering. With great dignity, Sylvie has had to rule the family after her husband was sentenced to jail. She works as a cleaning lady but her economic stability is threatened by a series of strikes, therefore she decides to confront the trade union representatives to save her salary.

The French actress is worried about the current political climate. "In the film, my character is opposed to the strike because by instinct she wants to protect her financial situation. Her precious job is also the biggest element of emancipation for her. The strong women I play are not searching for easy shortcuts," she said.

Ascaride stressed the role of women in society: "If I'm here talking to you today it is because my grandmother was doing that cleaning job and my mother was working very hard as well, having to feed three children. I just want to put a light on them but I don't want to do any exaltation of being miserable, because these women had immense pride and dignity," she said.

When the French actress began her career, she often heard women say that they were tired. However, she said she never heard her mother saying that. "My mother was very solid and she worked all day in the house and outside, so I think it's very important that nowadays some women have the chance to study, to follow important careers and help those who can't speak for themselves in society."