Petite Maman

France, 2021 / 73 Mins

Director: Céline Sciamma

Starring: Nina Meurisse, Joséphine Sanz, Gabrielle Sanz, Margot Abascal, Stéphane Varupenne

The much-anticipated latest treasure from Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Girlhood), this is a sublime modern fairytale about the quiet wonder of mother-daughter relationships.

8-year-old Nelly has just lost her beloved grandmother and is helping her parents clean out her mother’s childhood home. She explores the house and the surrounding woods where her mom, Marion, used to play and built the treehouse she’s heard so much about. One day her mother abruptly leaves. That’s when Nelly meets a girl her own age in the woods building a treehouse. Her name is Marion.

A favourite of the 2021 Berlin Film Festival, Sciamma’s new masterwork examines childhood, memory and loss with a typically delicate touch, elegantly weaved together into an enchanting and moving depiction of love and acceptance.

Subtitles.