The Grand Jury Prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and recipient of more than a dozen Cesar Award nominations, Polisse represents a unique French entry in a well-worn genre — the grizzled police department drama. Centering on the myriad investigations of the Child Protection Unit of a Paris bureau, the movie features all sorts of shocking, sad and scandalous subplots about child abuse, abandonment, underage pickpockets and predatory sexual behavior. But it’s also surprising for another reason — its writer-director and co-star, Maïwenn Le Besco, is a female, trading in a genre most typically reserved for men. I had a chance to speak to Maïwenn recently, about her movie, its life-changing reception at Cannes, her love for Las Vegas, and what drew her to the arts. The conversation is excerpted over at ShockYa, so click here for the full read.