Bright Lights: starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, a family history

Film still of Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds © RR

In Bright Lights, a documentary presented in Cannes Classics, directors Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens invite us to revisit two golden eras in American cinema through the deeply personal story of  Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher. An exploration of a mother-daughter relationship in the public gaze.

At 83, Debbie Reynolds, the star of Singing in the Rain, continues to perform in Las Vegas. But due to her many onstage appearances, her health has taken a turn for the worse. Her daughter Carrie Fisher, who acted in Star Wars, has never really cut the umbilical cord and is the first to be affected.

From scandals and marriage breakdown to financial difficulties and drug addiction, Bright Lights captures the key events in the lives of the actresses. from their debuts to the present, and from Hollywood to Beverly Hills, where they still live together. Their old family films form a backdrop for the history of showbiz, caught in this documentary narrated by Todd Fisher, Carrie's brother, Debbie's son, and also producer of Bright Lights. Todd Fisher had already taken his mother as the main subject of Movie Memories with Debbie Reynolds in 1991. He also appears in the documentaries Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963) and Hollywood Treasure (2012).

Bright Lights is an initiative of and directed by Alexis Bloom, known for his documentaries for the National Geographic channel, and Fisher Stevens, who also featured in the series Lost, Elementary and Blacklist.