GIRL POWER!

LE RETOUR

2023 / 110 min / color

The protagonist of the new film by acclaimed French director Catherine Corsini is Khédidja, a dark-skinned woman who works as a nanny for a well-to-do Parisian family. They plan to spend the summer in Corsica, and Khédidja is bringing her two teenage daughters, Jessica and Farah. It’s an opportunity to return to the place Khédidja was forced to leave many years ago, under tragic circumstances. While Khédidja thinks back on those events, Jessica and Farah enjoy a carefree vacation, indulging in summer temptations. They spend their days with new friends, and develop their first young crushes. But the painful past refuses to subside; further doubts arise, which drive Khédidja and her daughters to confront their difficult family history. Corsini’s intense, moving story is imbued with subliminal tension driven by issues of identity, race and gender. She describes her film as a story of female emancipation and sexual and romantic awakening. But the painful past refuses to subside; further doubts arise, which drive Khédidja and her daughters to confront their difficult family history. Corsini’s intense, moving story is imbued with subliminal tension driven by issues of identity, race and gender. She describes her film as a story of female emancipation and sexual and romantic awakening.