Title: A Girl’s Story (Mémoire de fille)

Section: Un Certain Regard

Director: Judith Godrèche

Screenwriters: Judith Godrèche, Annie Ernaux

Sales Agent: Paradise City Films

Logline: Annie Ernaux is invited to sign her latest book in the city of her childhood. As she travels there, she is overcome with vertigo and is plunged back into the memory of the summer of 1958, when she experienced her first night with a man. A night whose shockwave spread violently through her body and across the rest of her life.

Panelists: Judith Godrèche (Director, Writer, Producer), Tess Barthélémy (Actor)

Key Quotes: Godrèche on why she wanted A Girl’s Story to be her debut feature as a director: “I knew her [Ernaux’s] work, but I hadn’t read this one book, and it felt so obvious that even though the story is taking place in 1958, it was such a modern story that could be told today. It actually needed to be told today because of what’s happening in the world for women. It felt very accurate.”

Godrèche on if there has been progress for women’s safety in the French film industry after she spearheaded a new wave of the #MeToo movement in 2024 by making sexual abuse allegations against directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon: “For #MeToo, I feel like it’s a constant fight. I feel that what’s happening in this film [A Girl’s Story] is also very much related to it. Movies are political. If we have the ability and privilege to make films and get financed, our films need to be political. I hope the movie also has a purpose or will be useful for all women.”

Godrèche on directing daughter Barthélémy in A Girl’s Story: “I’m really trying to film violence from a feminist point of view. Filming my daughter in this role and her being the actress was also about putting the thing in the right place, which is that this is a job and to do your job, you need to do it in a safe place, like any other job. That’s how I’m trying to make movies. To make sure that the set is a safe place and everyone is reminded constantly that we’re doing it because we’re passionate, but it is still a job.”

Barthélémy on being directed by her mother, “This movie has really tough scenes. So, jumping in and knowing that it’s going to be on a set that is a very safe place, and even more reassuring knowing that it’s my mom who’s directing and also knowing her vision.”

To see the full conversation, click on the video above.

The Deadline Studio at Cannes is sponsored by SCAD.