LITTLE GIRL BLUE © Les Films du Poisson
Little Girl Blue or the blessing of reincarnation by Mona Achache
Mona Achache exhumes her mother’s past in Little Girl Blue, presented in Special Screenings. After her mother’s death, Mona Achache discovered that she had left behind letters and recordings, precious materials the director draws upon to bring her back to life.
Halfway between a documentary and fiction, Little Girl Blue tries to penetrate the secrets that remain after the death of Mona Achache’s mother. For this act of resurrection, the director goes beyond what’s real and calls upon actors to play the people that were important in her mother’s life. Her mother is played by Marion Cotillard who, just after the filming was completed, extolled this “creative and breathtaking project” in the newspaper Le Figaro.
Although Marion Cotillard, who starred last year in Arnaud Desplechin’s film Frère et Sœur (Brother and Sister), is a regular at the Festival, this is the first selection for Mona Achache. This French-Moroccan actress and director made a name for herself with her short films and documentaries before directing her first feature film in 2009, Le Hérisson (The Hedgehog), with Josiane Balasko.
For this 76th edition, the Festival de Cannes explores the documentary in all its forms. In Competition, the master of observation Wang Bing gets up close and personal with Chinese textile workers in Qingchun (Youth (Spring)), while Kaouther Ben Hania employs a unique and cathartic approach in Les Filles d’Olfa (Four Daughters). And in Special Screenings, Mona Achache summons the past and the force of cinema to tell the story of her mother in complete intimacy.
