SIBLINGS
Jessica Laurent
France
Young Pauline idolises her big sister, the champion swimmer Maria. But when Maria quits swimming, Pauline has to learn to let her go.
SYNOPSIS
At the end of a swimming training session, young Pauline wants to race her older sister Maria, just like they always have. But today, Maria refuses. Because today, Maria is quitting swimming. Pauline refuses to believe it. Maria is a champion and her idol! She cannot give up! Maria, increasingly irritated at having to defend her decision, violently abandons Pauline. All the water in the pool drains, leaving Pauline alone in a dry basin. The sisters’ time has run out. What can Pauline be without Maria? Can she still find a way through it all?
INTENTION
As a child, I admired and was close to my big brother. But when I was 14, he left home. How can siblings who grew up, played and laughed together become perfect strangers? Do they lose their bond when they move away from home? Writing Siblings was therapeutic for me because, as I worked through it, I realised that, for me and my brother to grow closer, I had to let him go.
As a queer and neurodivergent female director, I make these little life moments my cinema. Through my experience, sensitivity, and prism of understanding I explore themes of miscommunication, discovery of oneself and reconciliation. In Siblings, the youngest matures enough to let her big sister open up. She does not understand Maria’s choice, but by processing her own feelings, she allows her champion to lower the mask of responsibilities. Pauline can be there for her sister.
The filmmaking and art direction choices taken in Siblings revolve around Pauline’s neurodivergent and hyper-focused point of view. The framing is tight, flat and the takes are slow. Whatever Pauline focuses on, its sound is isolated from its background and is the only one we can hear. The accumulation of these sounds is the leitmotif carrying this film in waves.
DIRECTOR
Jessica Laurent
Jessica Laurent (b.1992) is a French multi-awarded independent filmmaker living between France (Auray) and Denmark (Viborg). She primarily makes films but also writes, teaches, and playtests solo board games. Her work focuses on the power of silence in our communications and the tender path to self-love. She is represented by the Parisian agency LISEARIF.
PRODUCER
Charlotte de la Gournerie
Charlotte de la Gournerie is a producer, co-founder and co-owner of Sun Creature in Denmark, and Sun Creature France since 2021. In 2022, with Flee, she received 3 Oscars® nominations and became a member of the Academy of the Oscars®, as well as of the the Césars. Her latest series is Ivandoe (40 ep. x 11’). She is currently producing several major animated projects and sharing her production experience around Europe.
Genre
Animation, Drama
Length
12 min
Technique
2D Animation
Language
French
Production companies
Sun Creature (France), Vivement Lundi! (France)
Estimated budget
€226.000
Secured funding
CNC Rewriting Fund - €4.000, CNC Development Fund - €15.000, own investment Sun Creature - €6.225, own investment Vivement Lundi! - €6.225
Looking for
Sales, Distribution, Festivals