Couple fights to save son's life
Declaration of War is a French film based on the real-life struggles of Valerie Donzelli (director, co-writer and star) and Jeremie Elka?m (co-writer and star) as they try to keep their cancer-stricken son alive.
Romeo (Elka?m) and Juliette (Donzelli) meet at a Parisian disco and fall in love at first sight. Then, after some rapid cuts, we jump ahead in time to the couple carting around their baby boy Adam (Cesar Desseix; older version played by their real-life son Gabriel Elka?m).
Soon after Adam's first birthday, he begins to show signs of ill health. The doctors diagnose his condition as a brain tumour. The couple is distressed, and begins their long struggle - a war on cancer. Despite the challenges of their son's disease, Romeo and Juliette strive to live life to the fullest.
The film, which was made on a tight budget, was shot on a still camera and almost entirely in natural lighting. It was submitted as the French entry for the Best Foreign Film at the last Academy Awards, but did not make the nominees' list.
Declaration of War opens tomorrow
