Geneviève Dulude-De Celles’ portrait of a shy girl in Quebec shines a gentle but beguiling light on the trials of becoming a teenager
This is a gorgeously gentle feature debut by the Canadian film-maker Geneviève Dulude-De Celles: a calm and tender portrait of a shy 12-year-old as she yo-yos between childhood and adolescence. It is beautifully acted and full of emotional complexity, although at times the storytelling seems a little derivative, with scenes half-familiar from indie’s back catalogue of coming-of-age movies.
Emilie Bierre is lovely as Mylia, who is so painfully self-conscious that she hides in a toilet cubicle until the bell rings on her first day at a new school. Mylia lives in the sticks with her parents and younger sister Camille, a little scamp who sits at the breakfast table shoving cereal up her nose. There’s a pang of sadness seeing the two girls together:...
This is a gorgeously gentle feature debut by the Canadian film-maker Geneviève Dulude-De Celles: a calm and tender portrait of a shy 12-year-old as she yo-yos between childhood and adolescence. It is beautifully acted and full of emotional complexity, although at times the storytelling seems a little derivative, with scenes half-familiar from indie’s back catalogue of coming-of-age movies.
Emilie Bierre is lovely as Mylia, who is so painfully self-conscious that she hides in a toilet cubicle until the bell rings on her first day at a new school. Mylia lives in the sticks with her parents and younger sister Camille, a little scamp who sits at the breakfast table shoving cereal up her nose. There’s a pang of sadness seeing the two girls together:...
- 3/8/2021
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
A young Quebecois girl slowly learns to color outside the lines in writer-director Genevieve Dulude-de Celles’ Berlinale award-winning narrative feature debut, a sensitive and tasteful coming-of-age story that would perhaps have been richer, and certainly more surprising, had it embraced that lesson too. “A Colony,” however, is a neatly rendered package that cycles through its familiar beats with earnest, thoughtful grace, and if Dulude-de Celles’ focus on her protagonist’s hesitance and insecurity can make for a slightly frustrating watch at times, the performances from her young cast still infuse the film with an appealing freshness.
Twelve-year-old Mylia (Émilie Bierre) lives near a First Nations reserve in Pierreville, a small town in the Quebec countryside, dismissively referred to as “the sticks” by one unwilling resident, but rendered relatively idyllic by Léna Mill-Reuillard and Etienne Roussy’s sun-blown, tousled cinematography. Her home life is defined by her parents’ marriage quietly fracturing in the background,...
Twelve-year-old Mylia (Émilie Bierre) lives near a First Nations reserve in Pierreville, a small town in the Quebec countryside, dismissively referred to as “the sticks” by one unwilling resident, but rendered relatively idyllic by Léna Mill-Reuillard and Etienne Roussy’s sun-blown, tousled cinematography. Her home life is defined by her parents’ marriage quietly fracturing in the background,...
- 5/10/2019
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired the coming-of-age drama “A Colony” which will be making its international premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in the generation section.
“A Colony” marks the feature debut of Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, whose short film “The Cut” won a prize at Sundance in 2014.
Set in Sorel Tracy, a Quebec town, at the end of summer, “A Colony” follows Mylia, a timid 12-year-old who must leave her little sister and native countryside to enter high school. Lost in this new environment, she meets Jacinthe, who introduces her to teenage rituals and absurdities, and Jimmy, a fierce young native from the neighboring reservation whom encourages her to cross boundaries, and ultimately form her personal identity.
“A Colony” previously won six awards in Quebec, including the best film and audience awards at the Quebec City Film. Festival.
Martin Gondre, Indie Sales’ head of marketing and festivals, said “A...
“A Colony” marks the feature debut of Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, whose short film “The Cut” won a prize at Sundance in 2014.
Set in Sorel Tracy, a Quebec town, at the end of summer, “A Colony” follows Mylia, a timid 12-year-old who must leave her little sister and native countryside to enter high school. Lost in this new environment, she meets Jacinthe, who introduces her to teenage rituals and absurdities, and Jimmy, a fierce young native from the neighboring reservation whom encourages her to cross boundaries, and ultimately form her personal identity.
“A Colony” previously won six awards in Quebec, including the best film and audience awards at the Quebec City Film. Festival.
Martin Gondre, Indie Sales’ head of marketing and festivals, said “A...
- 1/18/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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