Sisters and directing-duo Delphine and Muriel Coulin made their feature film debut in 2011 with “17 Girls.” The film, which is based on the true story of a group of American teenage girls who decided to become pregnant at the same time, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. “The Stopover,” their second film, had its world premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Screenplay in the Un Certain Regard section. When they are not together, Muriel directs documentaries and Delphine writes novels.

“The Stopover” will premiere at the 2016 BFI London Film Festival on October 13.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

DC & MC: Two servicewomen, Aurore (Ariane Labed) and Marine (Soko), who have been close friends ever since their school days in the military town of Lorient — where we were both born and raised— are coming back from Afghanistan. They are given three days of decompression leave with their unit at a five-star resort in Cyprus, among tourists.

These “holidays” have existed in reality for French, Canadian, American, English, and Polish troops for many years now. Rounds of partying and pampering are interspersed with group counseling sessions, where [the troops’] recent actions and strategies are reviewed with the aid of virtual reality, leading to heated arguments between soldiers with wildly differing memories of the war.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

DC & MC: We wanted to tell the story of two strong young girls, and how different women survive heavily patriarchal institutions, whether it’s via assimilation or stout resistance.

The film is adapted from Delphine’s fifth novel, “Voir du Pays,” or “See the World.”

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

DC & MC: All our films are centered on sight: How do we see the world today? What [are we given] to see? What is hidden or revealed if you change your point of view? Our film is an invitation to open our minds concerning wars we’ve been starting abroad, as well as our inner battles, such as the fight against sexism.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

DC & MC: In our first film, we had 17 girls to direct. This time, there were three girls and 17 men, a mix of actual former soldiers and professional comedians. We had to make all these different people play together and respect each other. After three weeks of rehearsal and military training, it was OK!

Moreover, the soldiers participated in collective debriefings where they used virtual reality. These virtual reality scenes were a challenge because the images were visual effects we were not used to. And [it was a challenge] for the actors who had to play with virtual reality glasses and had to be totally synchronous with the images behind them.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

DC & MC: Our film was funded thanks to two TV channels (co-producer ARTE and pre-sale Canal+), the Centre du Cinéma, and some financial funds. A distributor, Diaphana, and a sales agent, Film Distribution, also got onboard.

All of this was thanks to our producer, Denis Freyd of Archipel 35.

W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at LFF?

DC & MC: This is our first screening and [panel] abroad. Since Cannes — “The Stopover” was selected in Un Certain Regard — we haven’t shown it to a foreign audience, and we are very pleased it will play in an important festival like LFF and in London, a town we love and in which we both lived several years ago.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

DC & MC: The best: “Your end should be unpredictable, but inevitable,” given by Nick Proferes, who [worked on] the film “Wanda” with Barbara Loden.

The worst: Sometimes, “you must kill all your darlings,” a famous William Faulkner quote. Of course, it is good advice — “Cut the little elements that you like but are irrelevant to your story” — but it is so painful to do so!

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

DC & MC: Be obstinate. Be free.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

DC & MC: “La Ciénaga” by Lucrecia Martel, for its deepness and visual style and energy.

W&H: Have you seen opportunities for women filmmakers increase over the last year due to the increased attention paid to the issue? If someone asked you what you thought needed to be done to get women more opportunities to direct, what would be your answer?

DC & MC: The attention on women filmmakers has surely increased, but, in fact, [women] are not offered more opportunities to direct. It might be better if scripts were first read without any information on [the director’s] gender, class, or color. But this is pure utopia…