Actress-filmmaker (she forever stole our cinephile heart for her role in Abdellatif Kechiche’s The Secret of the Grain back in 2007) Hafsia Herzi has made a striking impression adored on the Croisette with Tu mérites un amour (2019) locking up a premiere in the Critics’ Week and Bonne Mère (2021) being showcased in the Un Certain Regard section. Now, with La Petite Dernière (The Little Sister) she is one of very few films representing French cinema in comp this year.
The fifth film in competition was shot this past May. This third feature stars Aloïse Sauvage, Anouar Kardellas, Luna Ribeiro, Elisa Libri, Nacer Bouhanni, Olivia Courbis, Vincent Pasdermadjian, Rita Benmanana, Victorien Bonnet, and Nemo Schiffman. A loose book-to-film adaptation, the story follows Fatima, the youngest daughter of an Algerian immigrant family in France, as she grapples with her burgeoning attraction to women—a revelation that forces her to confront her family, faith, and sense of self. Herzi once again collaborates with cinematographer Jérémie Attard, marking their third consecutive project together. The film is a France-Germany co-production.
Among the fresh new voices first time in competition, was it a bit too early for Cannes to put the actress-auteur into the race for the Palme? While the final grade will likely change, with only seven of our twenty critics weighing in, we have an average score of 2.7.
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