WATCH PARTY: Petite Maman (Céline Sciamma, 2022) + The Red Balloon (1956)

A double feature of two French films featuring children (both pretty short!)

Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman (2022) is 73 minutes. Here’s what Criterion.com has to say about it:

“Céline Sciamma’s follow-up to Portrait of a Lady on Fire transcends time and space to weave a delicate fable about grief, family, and connection across generations. In the wake of her grandmother’s death, eight-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) accompanies her distraught mother (Nina Meurisse) to her childhood home. There, Nelly’s encounter with another young girl (Gabrielle Sanz) brings mother and daughter together in a way neither could have ever imagined. Evoking childhood’s perpetual state of wonder through luminous, richly textured images, Petite maman takes viewers on a journey inward for a quietly miraculous tale of emotional time travel.”

Meanwhile Criterion has this to say about Albert Lamorisse’s 1956 short film The Red Balloon (34 minute runtime):

“Rarely has the spirit of childhood been evoked as exquisitely as in this Academy Award–winning cinematic fable, a fantasy with the texture of reality. On the streets of 1950s Paris, a young boy (played by director Albert Lamorisse’s son, Pascal) is launched on a miraculous adventure when he’s playfully pursued by a shiny red balloon that seems to have a mind of its own—until the harsh realities of the world interfere, setting the stage for a deeply moving finale. Shot in beautifully muted Technicolor, this beguiling allegory of innocence and transcendence has inspired generations of viewers to let their imaginations take flight.”

We’ll be in the Cloud Room on Jordan-Newby’s 2nd floor for this one.