Underplayed Gems

Grandir (2013)

Grandir poster
Directed by
Dominique Cabrera
Genre
documentary film
Country
France
Runtime
1h 33m
Rating
4.0 of 10 from 1 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

The filmmaker records family events like weddings, holidays, births and a funeral, trying to understand family secrets and her own anxiety. She also travels to Algeria with her sister to learn about their mother's birth.

intimatereflectivecontemplativepersonalslow-pacedmelancholicexploratory

What happens

Grandir is a 2013 first-person French documentary film by Dominique Cabrera. The film, whose working title was O Happy Days! (Ô Heureux jours !), is a follow-up to the filmmaker's 1995 film diary Tomorrow and Tomorrow Again (Demain et encore demain). In Grandir, Cabrera expanded her diaristic approach, starting by filming family at her brother's wedding in Massachusetts. According to the filmmaker, this was a way of appreciating them more deeply, cherishing them while they're alive. From there, the filmmaker continued recording events and gatherings – holidays, births, and her father's funeral – in the hopes of grappling with family secrets, which might explain her anxiety and persistent insomnia. She also traveled to Algeria with her sister to investigate the mysterious conditions surrounding their mother's birth. Cabrera met one of the film's editors, Isidore Bethel, when she was a visiting professor in Harvard's film program and advising his undergraduate thesis. Bethel also concurrently edited Cabrera's short film "Goat Milk," which focuses on grief and Cabrera's interactions with family living in Massachusetts. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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