(2024, France, 144')
Adapted from Nicolas Mathieu’s novel of the same name (winner of the 2018 Goncourt Prize), the story takes us back to August 1992 in a remote valley in eastern France, where industries are closing down. To escape the boredom of the sweltering summer days, fourteen-year-old Anthony, along with his cousin, decides to steal a canoe and see what’s happening on the other side of the lake at the famous nudist beach. There, they meet Stéphanie, and Anthony falls instantly in love. The film follows the lives of the three teenagers over the course of three summers in the 1990s, depicting their loves, arguments, and escapades: it’s the drama of life’s beginnings.
French twin brothers Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, screenwriters and directors, are making their fourth feature film. Their debut film, Willy the 1st, made when they were just 23, was presented at Cannes in 2016 and won the Prix d’Ornano-Valenti for Best French Debut Film at the Deauville Asian Film Festival. They returned to Cannes with the horror film Teddy (2020), which received the Critics’ Award at Sitges and Cinemed in Montpellier, the Jury Prize at Gérardmer, and the Grand Prize of the French competition in Bordeaux. In 2022, they directed the horror comedy Year of the Shark.
