MOTHER AND SON (UN PETIT FRÈRE)

California Premiere


HEART | WORLD

France 2022, 116 min, Director: Léonor Serraille

Spanning twenty years, Léonor Serraille’s beautifully sweeping second feature follows Rose (Annabelle Lengronne), who moves from the Ivory Coast to France in 1989 with her two sons Jean and Ernest. Presented in triptych form, each section explores one of these three richly-scripted characters. In the first section, Rose, independent and forthright upon her arrival in Paris, resists being tied to a man until paramour Thierry (Thibaut Evrard) woos her to Normandy. This shift in locale prompts the first shift in perspective, centering on teenage Jean (Stéphane Bak), the eldest son, and the challenges of adolescence. In the film’s final segment, focus turns to Ernest (Kenzo Sambin and Ahmed Sylla) as he tries to reconcile the distance he feels towards his mother and brother. With warmth, humor, and terrific performances, especially from Lengronne, Mother and Son is a masterful portrait of diasporic familial bonds and the complexities of parenthood. —Rod Armstrong

In French with English subtitles
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Director

A native of Lyon, France, Léonor Serraille is a writer and director who made her directing debut with a short, BODY (2016). Her first feature, MONTPARNASSE BIENVENÜE (2017), won multiple awards, including the Cannes Film Festival’s Golden Camera.

Film Info

countries:

France

Year:

2008

Running Time:

116

Languages:

French

Director:

Léonor Serraille

Producers:

Sandra da Fonseca

Cinematographers:

Hélène Louvart

Editors:

Clémence Carré

Writers:

Léonor Seraille

Cast:

Annabelle Lengronne, Thibaut Evrard, Stéphane Bak, Kenzo Sambin, Ahmed Sylla

sections:

WORLD CINEMA

Subtitles:

English

venues:

Rafael 2