Petite Maman

French auteur Céline Sciamma (Tomboy, Portrait of a Lady on Fire) returns with this exquisite time-bending tale of childhood grief and wonder. 8-year-old Nelly has just lost her beloved grandmother, and is helping her parents clean out her mother’s childhood home. One day she meets a strangely familiar girl her own age in the woods. Instantly forming a connection with this mysterious new friend, Nelly embarks on a fantastical journey of discovery which helps her come to terms with this newfound loss.

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‘Some movies blackmail you into being emotional by showing you violence or people suffering. If it’s not emotional porn, then the audience can be happy about it. I wanted to create this weird thing that would be very short but so concentrated. I love very short movies. I was also inspired by the work of Chantal Akerman. Her films have this strange patchwork that gives you ideas. There’s a lot of frontality in her films [and] I’m always thinking about playful cinema.’

Director Céline Sciamma, from an interview with Indiewire.