Documentary "Frédérique"
Frédérique is a 59-year-old woman with a mental handicap. She is also my sister-in-law.
She lives in an MGEN center in Drôme and every month she comes to spend 3 days with the family in Auvergne. This journey has its codes, its rhythm, its immutable rituals.
She finds her place in the siblings, made up of 6 sisters and a brother.
And what is their place with her?
"FREDERIQUE" is a 52 'documentary.
Intended for all audiences, concerned or not, associations, festivals, companies, symposia, schools, television channels and anyone sensitive to the subject of mental handicap and the link with their siblings.
I warmly thank all those who were sensitive to the subject and who generously participated in the fundraising.
Thanks to your support, the film was able to finalize.
I really want to share it with you.
History
Synopsis
These family stays are regular and expected on both sides. They are an opportunity for Frédérique, to leave her reception center for a few days and to resume links with her siblings and her mother. The trip and the stay are planned according to the same sequence. The path is always the same, with its habits and its exchanges.
To the rhythm of a road movie.
The first times that I accompanied him on this journey, made of unsaid, silence and subtle exchange, appeared to me his own rhythm, his cadence, his atmosphere so singular. I quickly wanted to make a film and share it with those who, like me, are outside this environment. I had at heart to capture these moments of intimacy and complicity. Because what strikes me and touches me is this non-verbal communication made up of extremely powerful unspoken words, and this bond between the sibling members, just as strong. The complicity existing between her brother and her is obvious and deep. Everything is visceral, like a single means of communication. And then laughter, which comes to consolidate these moments of connection and ignore the disease.
His brother, two sisters and their mother signed up for this project and made it evolve. It allowed them to share their experiences, and to say what they may never have said to each other in their family.
How did they make their place alongside Frédérique? How do you grow up with a disabled sister?
What link can we have and what means of communication do we use?
What impact on their adult life and their future choices?
Shame, speech, violence, prayer, childhood, listening, closet, protection, decoding, tamed…
So many words asked.
Three days of summer shooting in Puy-de-Dôme, with the complicity of Laure Patricot on HD camera.
With that sense of urgency and fragility that characterizes proximity to Frédérique.
Would she accept the presence of the camera, fixed on her every move?
Finally, she knows me and perceives me.
Over time, we got to know each other.
A loving relationship has developed between us. I thank her for her trust.