Sweet sixteen | “Sweet sixteen, what do they say?” »

This is a strange object. Halfway between fiction and art film, Sweet sixteen, a feature film inspired by a play, is intended as a bonus and subtext to be a “symphony for teenage girls”. Interview with the director, Alexa-Jeanne Dubé, of this film, as aesthetic as it is demanding, which is disturbing.

Definitely experimental, Sweet sixteen, presented as a world premiere at the Raindance festival in London, which also won the Post-Modern Jury prize at the last edition of Cinémania, opens on a lake. Several young girls bathe there, splash themselves, laugh, in short, have fun freely. Innocently. Change of tone, the scene which follows, while they suddenly and each turn stare, in close-up, at the camera. Exit joy, their piercing eyes oscillate here between sadness, anguish, and nostalgia. The table is set for the future.

A series of paintings will follow, composed of as many monologues, recited like poems, sometimes almost a slam, or on the contrary a secret, sometimes a young girl nestled on a cliff, sometimes in a quarry or even lying down in the forest. Special mention to the scene immersed in the sand, literally, a quasi-performance surrounded by various fruits. Let us also highlight the fruit installation, signed by visual artist Olivia Sofia. This gives you an idea of ​​the genre and style of the project.

The film is divided between four “movements” (obsession, escape, violence and the world); the young girls, always made up in a rather particular way (a blue face here, a red spot on the forehead there, etc.) will each take turns and solo tackle a succession of subjects, quite difficult thank you: anxiety, eating disorders, incest, commitment, revolt or sexual assault, we are not exactly in lightness here. The text, bittersweet, or rather “sweet and sour”, as one of them will say, is shocking and upsetting. “For real, it’s not joy,” someone else will say. Sweet 16, what do they say? » Ah yes, we will also discuss first love, even the first kiss.

Adaptation of a play

For the record, you should know that Sweet sixteen is originally a play, by the playwright Suzie Bastien, who died in 2021. It was the artistic director of the Opsis theater who asked Alexa-Jeanne Dubé to do a recording of it. “But not on stage, and not in the decor,” specifies the director, initially an actress (Witches, Drains, Miscellaneous facts, The escape, etc.) of which this is the first feature film. “And the result is this capture,” she explains.

It is a theatrical object transposed to cinema.

Alexa-Jeanne Dubé, director

Hence the strength of the text, on the one hand, and above all the slightly recited tone. You should also know that the eight young girls are obviously those of the original cast, all graduates of the National Theater School last year.

“They are older, but they are also kids, they scream, they play, and I wanted us to see this side that we lose as we get older. This sweetness, this vitality, this wonder, I find it beautiful, personally, continues the director, whom I met recently. I wanted us to feel that we have to be careful with these girls…”

Poetry before technique

Alexa-Jeanne Dubé chose to shoot her film in nature, camera on the shoulder, with daylight as the only lighting, a question of budget of course, but also of symbolism. “These girls are halfway between childhood and adulthood, and in nature, we feel the fluid, gentle side of childhood. A side that opposes adulthood, urbanity and the harshness that they experience. » The text being quite explicit, “I preferred to express emotions with symbols and visual poetry”, she adds.

Although she did not do any screenwriting work, Alexa-Jeanne Dubé still deleted several passages, removed sung texts, and reorganized the order of the monologues. In the background: a love story, a note of hope and light, on which the director also chose to conclude. And it is not a hazard. “I found it natural to end with a love story, something more universal that brings people together. Despite all the difficulties of adolescence, there is still something beautiful. It’s not true it’s just hard. I am an optimist. I’ve been through some tough things, but life can be good too,” she says.

Certainly, the subject is loaded, there is no escaping it. “But speaking out is liberating,” she adds. And thanks to this word, we feel less alone. » As for her, Alexa-Jeanne Dubé even felt these words from the author Suzie Bastien as a “balm”. And it shines through. “During filming, I felt like she was watching over us. There was something bright…”

In theaters March 8