{"id":1651,"date":"2022-08-18T11:26:28","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T18:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/?p=1651"},"modified":"2022-08-18T11:27:12","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T18:27:12","slug":"petite-maman-a-french-coming-of-age-sci-fi-hybrid-thats-a-warm-bundle-of-cinematic-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/2022\/petite-maman-a-french-coming-of-age-sci-fi-hybrid-thats-a-warm-bundle-of-cinematic-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Petit\u200be\u200b Maman * A French Coming Of Age Sci-Fi Hybrid That\u2019s A Warm Bundle Of Cinematic Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Petitemaman.poster.-204x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1654\" width=\"102\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Petitemaman.poster.-204x300.jpg 204w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Petitemaman.poster.-698x1024.jpg 698w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Petitemaman.poster.-768x1127.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Petitemaman.poster..jpg 1047w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 102px) 100vw, 102px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>C\u00e9line Sciamma continues to prove herself as one of the most accomplished and unpredictable contemporary French filmmakers with her follow up to PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, the uniquely emotional, PETITE MAMAN. Following the death of her beloved grandmother, 8-year-old Nelly accompanies her parents to her mother&#8217;s childhood home to begin the difficult process of cleaning out its contents. As Nelly explores the house and nearby woods, she is immediately drawn to a neighbor her own age building a treehouse. What follows is a tender tale of childhood grief, memory and connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Benjamin P. comments, \u201c<em>Petit\u200be\u200b Maman<\/em> is a warm bundle of cinematic magic. Director Celina Sciamma\u2019s French coming of age sci-fi hybrid never gets too bogged down in tedious specifics of its fantastical set-up. <em>Petit Maman<\/em> bends time to tell the story about the bond between a daughter and her mother that transcends it.\u201d&nbsp; See his full reviews below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Petit\u200be\u200b Maman<br>Benjamin P., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 16<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Enjoy Benjamin P.&#039;s review of Petit Maman\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LVRWJv9qW0Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/petitemaman.a-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1653\" width=\"225\" height=\"127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/petitemaman.a-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/petitemaman.a-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/petitemaman.a-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/petitemaman.a.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em>Petit\u200be\u200b Maman<\/em> is a warm bundle of cinematic magic. Director Celina Sciamma\u2019s French coming of age sci-fi hybrid never gets too bogged down in tedious specifics of its fantastical set-up. <em>Petit Maman<\/em> bends time to tell the story about the bond between a daughter and her mother that transcends it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Petit\u200be\u200b Maman<\/em>, which I had the pleasure of seeing at the Middleburg Film Festival, centers itself around a little girl named Nelly (Josephine Sanz) and her family, reeling after the death of a loved one, as they spend some time in Nelly\u2019s mother\u2019s childhood home. Nelly\u2019s mother leaves the family behind in the midst of the immense grief she\u2019s suffering, leaving her husband and daughter with little idea of when she\u2019ll return. In the meantime, Nelly ventures into the woods, where she meets and begins to pal around with a young girl, who she learns, by some twist of cosmic fate, is a much younger version of her own mother, who faces trials of her own.&nbsp; A single stretch of woods bridges decades between them. Together, they try to help each other cope in these moments of personal turmoil and Nelly can maybe get to understand why her mother left and what she\u2019s going through.&nbsp; This movie quite literally follows its two leads after their meeting, making food, building forts, making believe. <em>Petit Maman<\/em> uses those pastimes of youth to hit audiences with a surprisingly layered exploration of something as monumental as grief from a kid\u2019s perspective.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/petitemaman.b.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1652\" width=\"225\" height=\"126\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>I loved, loved, <em>loved<\/em> the setup of this movie\u2014it doesn\u2019t ever seek to explain how Nelly and this younger version of her mother meet in terms of time and space, but it uses that heightened concept to speak to something more human. Here, two children reckon with fear and their powerlessness in the conflicts they face, and in the comfort and security they give each other lies the courage to face them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lesson of <em>Petit<\/em><em>\u200be\u200b<\/em><em> Maman<\/em> is just to be there for the people you love in times of great difficulty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I give <em>Petit\u200be\u200b Maman<\/em> 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 5 to 12. It\u2019s an understated, but moving little gem that I hope doesn\u2019t escape people\u2019s radar. <em>Petite Maman<\/em> is currently streaming on various VOD platforms including iTunes and Vudu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"PETITE MAMAN - Official Trailer - In Theaters April 22\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iavDAuCkQEE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>C\u00e9line Sciamma continues to prove herself as one of the most accomplished and unpredictable contemporary French filmmakers with her follow up to PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, the uniquely emotional, PETITE MAMAN. Following the death of her beloved grandmother, 8-year-old Nelly accompanies her parents to her mother&#8217;s childhood home to begin the difficult process of cleaning out its contents. As Nelly explores the house and nearby woods, she is immediately drawn to a neighbor her own age building a treehouse. What follows is a tender tale of childhood grief, memory and connection.<\/p>\n<p>KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Benjamin P. comments, \u201cPetite Maman is a warm bundle of cinematic magic. Director Celina Sciamma\u2019s French coming of age sci-fi hybrid never gets too bogged down in tedious specifics of its fantastical set-up. Petit Maman bends time to tell the story about the bond between a daughter and her mother that transcends it.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[1497,1502,1503,1491,1500,1492,1498,1499,1494,1501,1495,1493,1504,1496],"class_list":["post-1651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-critics-blog","tag-benedicte-couvreur","tag-canal","tag-celine-sciamma","tag-cine","tag-claire-mathon","tag-france-3-cinema","tag-gabrielle-sanz","tag-josephine-sanz","tag-julien-lacheray","tag-lilies-films","tag-margo-abascal","tag-nina-meurisse","tag-pyramide-distribution","tag-stephane-varupenne"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1651"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1656,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1651\/revisions\/1656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}