Un petit frère

Léonor Serraille follows her debut feature, the Camera d’Or winning JEUNE FEMME (2017), with a film radically different in scope and temperament, confirming herself as a major new voice in French cinema. A close examination of a family unit under cultural and interpersonal strain, MOTHER AND SON combines intimacy with an expansive use of film time, spanning twenty years in the lives of Rose, a young mother from Côte d’Ivoire, and two of her sons, Jean and Ernest. Their story is told in three parts, each focused on one member of the family.
In the first segment we meet Rose, and watch as she bristles under the demands of her relatives and lovers, all of whom expect her to play the role of the humble, hard-working immigrant. Rose’s quest for self-actualization has unanticipated consequences for her children. In the second part, we observe Jean’s struggle to find his place in French society and meet the demands of his stern mother. Finally, Serraille turns her focus to young Ernest, who must navigate life without the support of the people he grew up with. MOTHER AND SON avoids many of the well-worn conventions of the European immigration story, suggesting that in some regards, all unhappy families may be very much the same. (Michael Sicinski)

In the presence of Stéphane Bak on October 31st.

Léonor Serraille: BODY (2016, K), JEUNE FEMME (2017)