“Dalva”, the story of a stolen childhood

She is 12 years old, and sometimes looks 20. Dalva is a very young girl, who takes the public into the turbulent waters of her story. She was placed after being removed from the control of an incestuous father. The film follows the path of his return to a child’s life. “Dalva tells us that there is hope, that even if we are under the influence, (…) that we can always get away with it”explains Zelda Samson, the actress.

The power of denial

What suffering can children bear out of love for their parents? It is this force of denial of reality that the director, Emmanuelle Nicot, has explored. “I met children who were in an extremely powerful denial, I think to protect themselves from an insurmountable daily life that they live. And I was deeply surprised by the power of their denial”, she explains. The face of Dalva, a little girl transformed into a woman by her father, is overwhelming with stolen childhood.