Christel Baras

On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

Ten-year-old Laure isn't like most girls. She prefers football to dolls and sweaters to dresses. When Laure and her family move to a new neighbourhood, local girl Lisa mistakes Laure for a boy. Indulging in this exciting new identity, Laure becomes Mickaël, and so begins a summer of long sunny afternoons, playground games and first kisses. Yet with the school term fast approaching, and with suspicions arising amongst friends and family, Laure must face up to an uncertain future.

Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.

Freshly divorced, Fanny, a thirty-something from Fécamp, has nothing left of her marriage but a sky-blue sofa, debts she refuses to pay, and an absolute determination never to 'start her life' with a man again. Despite her burning need for freedom, this cleaning lady finds herself stuck back at her parents' house. That is, until the day she crosses paths with Anemone, a professional mermaid passing through the region. She decides to take the plunge and dive into the world of mermaiding.

Darling is a woman of today. It seems to always choose the wrong path. Suffers but does not look like a victim. Do not feel sorry for herself. On the contrary, shows a passion for life against all odds. She is struggling to exist. If you fall, get up. Because Darling is naive and fearless, brave and instinctive. Has the life force of a tragic heroine.