MY LOVE

France 2021 - DCP - 88 minutes, in French with English subtitles Director, Screenplay: Claire Doyon Producer: Carole Chassaing

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There are so many remarkable things about PÉNÉLOPE, MY LOVE, even though it’s the definition of a “small-scale” film. To begin with, it has the honesty of being a documentary shot over the course of almost two decades, because that’s the length of the story it has to tell us. For 18 years, director Claire Doyon has been filming Pénélope, her daughter with autism. Composed of DV tapes, Super 8 reels and HD archives, PÉNELOPÉ MY LOVE traces the relationship between mother and daughter through different stages: the shock of the diagnosis, the fight against it, the resolve, the acceptance and discovery of a different mode of existence. It’s a slo-mo revelation to us, as it is to mother and daughter. A truly moving, truly honest, truly emotional experience. —Ken Eisen