It is a poignant film about the relationship of a father on vacation with his eleven-year-old daughter who won the Grand Prix at the Deauville American Film Festival on Saturday evening: aftersun, director Charlotte Wells’ debut film scooped the festival’s highest honour. The film, which had already won the “French Touch” prize at Cannes in May, also won the Critics’ Jury prize in Deauville, made up of five journalists.
“Through the art of staging, the director manages to make a miracle out of every moment filmed.“, enthused the president of the jury Arnaud Desplechin. This year, the selection had given pride of place to the first films of directors for the most part unknown to the public, with eight out of the thirteen in competition.
aftersun, whose release date on screens in France is not known, is the first feature film by director Charlotte Wells, born in 1987 in Scotland and who lives in New York. In a video message played in the main hall of the festival, she expressed her “huge honor“.
This very personal film recounts the summer holidays of an Englishman at the end of the 1990s, played by Paul Mescal (especially known in the series Normal People), in his thirties, with his eleven-year-old daughter (played by Frankie Corio) on the Turkish coast.
After scenes of joy and smiles, we perceive by small touches areas of crack in this divorced man, a little lost, and who captures with his camcorder moments of happiness with Sophie, full of life. The feature film also subtly deals with Sophie’s transition from infancy to pre-adolescence, forming relationships with teenagers at the vacation club and discovering first flirtations.
In a subtle way, Aftersun explores the themes of happiness, family ties, fatherhood and memory. Yasmina Khadra, member of the jury, judges the film “very moving, with this little girl who tries to save her father, to prove to him that life is worth living. Léa Drucker, also a member of the jury, said to herself “carried away” by this movie “impressionist“.”I started crying right away. It feels like you’re in someone’s memory and it’s extremely subtle“, confided the actress.
The Jury Prize was awarded to two films: war ponydiving into the Native American world, by Gina Gammell and Riley Keough, and Palm Trees and Power Linesa film about adolescence, by Jamie Dack.
Finally, the public prize, chosen by the festival-goers who were able to vote, went to Emily The Criminalwhich traces the journey of a woman sinking into crime in California.