FIFI

2022 / 109 min / color

15-year-old Fifi (the beautiful and talented Céleste Brunnquell) spends her summer vacation in her hometown in the east of France. She comes from a big family with lots of brothers and sisters who all live in the housing projects on the outskirts of town. One day, as she’s cruising around on her bike feeling bored, she runs into an old friend from school, a rich girl. When Fifi hears about the girl’s family going on vacation, she doesn’t hesitate to steal the keys to their home. She moves into the beautiful, temporarily vacant villa for the weekend, intending to live the life she’s always dreamed of for a little while. But the next day the family’s 20-something son Stéphane (Quentin Dolmaire), who studies in Paris, shows up out of the blue. He has a brief existential crisis but quickly befriends Fifi. The unlikely couple start to spend more and more time together, despite their age difference and the fact that they come from very different worlds. In co-directors Jeanne Aslan and Paul Saintillan’s feature debut (which won an award at San Sebastián), they tell the story of a surprising connection between two characters from different socio-economic backgrounds, in a witty and empathetic way. They skillfully adapt the conventions of coming-of-age movies, adding precise and much needed social commentary.

• San Sebastián IFF – New Directors Award