Can high school friendships last a lifetime? One thing's for sure: before long, Aurore, Nours, Jeanne, Diane and the others will be saying goodbye to their boarding rooms, swimming in the Drôme and parties in the mountains. Louison will cut his dreads and the little family will break up. For some of them, it's not the first time and it hurts even more.
After the multi-award-winning Un Monde sans Femmes in 2011, Tonnerre in 2014 and À l'abordage, selected at the Berlinale in 2020, Guillaume Brac makes his return to the documentary genre with Ce n'est qu'un au revoir, selected at the Cannes FestivalAcid 2024. This is the second part of a diptych that began in 2023 with his medium-length film Un pincement au cœur.
Using still shots, sometimes far removed from the subjects, the Frenchdirector makes himself small and leaves plenty of room for the questioning of these teenagers, all dreads and sarouels - " It's babosland " they swing. Alternative, alterglobalist, zadist, party-goer, these adults in the making are riddled with the questions of that age, which they express in images and voice-overs.
With intelligence, ease and an open heart, they go through their desires, fears and hesitations, wondering about their future professions and their choice of studies. As the film draws to a close, the transition to adulthood takes shape in a life-saving dreadlocks-cutting scene, while the separation of the members of this family, recreated from scratch at boarding school, promises to be heartbreaking for everyone.
The documentary offers a welcome spotlight on thecommitment of these politicized young people, who are struggling to fight major battles head-on. Commitment to the ZADs, the megabassines, the break-up of Soulèvements de la Terre and the protests that ensued are evoked, one after the other, by these young utopians, full of fear in the face of an uncertain future, but whose eyes betray a real hope for a better future.
Cannes Festival 2024: The latest news and information about the 77th edition
The Cannes Film Festival returns to the Croisette for its 77th edition from May 14 to 25, 2024. Click here for all the latest news and information! [Read more]
Cannes Festival 2024: The latest news and information about the 77th edition
