Winocour, one of France’s most respected contemporary filmmakers, has long been praised for her ability to portray intimate human experiences through striking visual storytelling. Known for her César Award-winning screenplay Mustang and her acclaimed features Proxima (starring Eva Green) and Paris Memories (led by Virginie Efira), she returns to the San Sebastian Film Festival with Couture, a project that combines glamour and gravity in equal measure.

At the center of the story is Angelina Jolie, who plays Maxine — a celebrated American film director invited to create a short artistic piece for a major Paris Fashion Week event. Immersed in a world of beauty, chaos, and relentless creativity, Maxine’s carefully curated life begins to unravel when she receives a shocking breast cancer diagnosis.

As she faces her illness, Maxine must confront her own vulnerability in an environment obsessed with perfection. What begins as a film about fashion slowly transforms into a meditation on identity, womanhood, and the quiet strength that emerges in moments of crisis. Surrounded by a vibrant cast of characters — models, designers, assistants, and artists — Maxine discovers unexpected bonds and an unspoken sense of solidarity among women who, beneath the glamour, share the same fears, pain, and courage.

With Couture, Winocour delivers not a film about clothes or catwalks, but about connection — between women, between art and life, and between the dazzling illusion of beauty and the raw truth of the human spirit. Through Jolie’s moving performance and Winocour’s sensitive direction, the film becomes a celebration of resilience, transformation, and the power of standing together even in life’s most fragile moments.