Q&A: Céline Sciamma on unearthing moments of transformation

Céline Sciamma's “Petite Maman” runs a mere 72 minutes and yet packs a lifetime of enchantment

NEW YORK -- Céline Sciamma's “Petite Maman" runs a mere 72 minutes and yet packs in a lifetime of enchantment. It is, she says, “a pocket film you can take home.”

The film, which opened in theaters Friday, is the French writer-director's follow-up to her 2019 award-winning love story “Portrait of a Lady on Fire." Whereas that film took a specific 18th period setting, “Petite Maman” is more contemporary yet still out of time.

It's told largely from the perspective of 8-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz), whose grandmother has just died. While her mother, Marion (Nina Meurisse), wrestles with grief and her father (Stéphane Varupenne) cleans out her grandmother's house, Nelly is left to explore her surroundings. In the woods behind the house, she meets a girl who looks exactly like her (played by Sanz's twin sister, Gabrielle). With the gentle spell of a fairy tale, it becomes clear that this is Nelly's mother as a child. Where did she come from? “From the path behind you,” she answers.

“It's short to watch but it's not short to live,” Sciamma said smiling in a recent interview over Zoom from her apartment in Paris.