Forays into the TikTok, Instagram and Periscope universe of three groups of teenage girls
Don’t be fooled by the lightness of the title. damsels, as pretty and old-fashioned as the word, is nothing short of light. Nor exceeded, moreover. Completely the opposite.
Fanie Pelletier, who won the prize for best first feature film for her film at the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, immerses the viewer for almost an hour and a half in the highly connected and very contemporary world of young people girls (and young girls only, the boys being totally absent here, at least physically). Aesthetic effects, slow motion and other close-ups included.
Think notifications, TikTok images and, above all, live videos (lives). The whole broadcast (hammered) on the screen, and alternately, with voice-over reflections of chosen young girls, whom we follow. You will have understood it: it is stunning.
However, not much is happening in damsels. At least, not by sight. As proof: the camera follows three groups of friends sometimes walking in a park. Sometimes baking a cake. Or even cutting their hair. We wonder where all this will lead us. And it’s getting us nowhere, somewhere.
Not much is happening, but in fact, everything is happening. Because at the same time, these young girls whose dangerously lucid words serve as the one and only narration for this immersive film, which has none, have a parallel life, precisely. They chatpublish, make lives. And interact with thousands of others like them. All over the planet. Yes, everywhere.
If you meet children of this age, their language will not surprise you. “Because LOL” at full speed, you’ve heard others. But for the less sophisticated public, say, their jargon will no doubt be less obvious. More confusing, too, their way of life. A life where self-esteem is measured in likes, where the portrait is filtered and where loneliness shines through, despite the thousands of exchanges and as many absent interlocutors, concretely, of course. A life, above all, where the image is omnipresent, with all the (food) disorders that this implies. And they are very aware of it.
damsels is a slow film, (too) long and at times redundant, but oh so powerful. No one goes through their teenage years singing. But following this disturbing immersion, we understand the extent to which today’s young people (girls) have an additional layer of complexity to manage. And that’s not exactly reassuring.
damsels is presented in the original French version and in the original version with English subtitles.
Indoors
Documentary
damsels
Fanie Pelletier