New York Film Fest:Olivier Assayas

Olivier Assayas' quiet, lyrical new film SUMMER HOURS follows three grown siblings as they gather to decide how to handle the wishes of their recently deceased matriarch. The film subtly explores the idea of family heritage and responsibility, as well as the intimate relationship we sometimes form with material things.

Here, Assayas explains how the film began as a narrative (commissioned by the Musee D'Orsay) about the ways in which objects acquire value, why he was reluctant to make a family drama, and how Summer Hours might be seen as an epilogue to his 2000 period drama Les destinées sentimentales.

See the rest of our 2008 New York Film Festival Coverage