The Little Sister
- France, Germany
- 2025
- 106'
- Forum
Fatima, 17, is the youngest of the three daughters in a French-Algerian family living in the suburbia of Paris. She is a model pupil, an active athlete, and has a loving family. Her life seems to be an idyll. In reality, her life is constant walking a tightrope between loyalty to her conservative family and a growing attraction to women. She fears that her family would not be able to accept it. She registers on a dating website, and starts exploring her identity and sexuality. It intensifies, when she meets Ji-Na, who works as a nurse. This relationship offers both joy and pain, but helps Fatima understand herself deeper. The film is a subtle and touching portrayal of a young woman who strives to shape her own identity at the crossroads of two different worlds.
- Directed by: Hafsia Herzi
- Screenplay: Hafsia Herzi
- Photography: Jérémie Attard
- Music: Amine Bouhafa
- Production Design: Diéné Berete
- Costume Design: Caroline Spieth
- Editing: Géraldine Mangenot
- Cast: Nadia Melliti, Ji-Min Park, Louis Memmi, Amina Ben Mohamed, Melissa Guers, Rita Benmannana
A film director, screenwriter, and producer. She was born in 1987, in France. As an actress, she debuted in the film ‘The Secret of the Grain’ directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, winning the César Award for the Most Promising Actress (Meilleur espoir féminin) and the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the Venice IFF. She has worked with such prominent filmmakers as André Téchiné, Bertrandem Bonello, and Radu Mihaileanu. As a film director, she made her début in Cannes with the film ‘Tu mérites un amour / You Deserve a Lover’ (2019). Her sophomore film ‘Bonne mère / Good Mother’ (2021) received an accolade in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes. In 2025, she won the César Award for her role in the film ‘Borgo’ by Stéphane Demoustier. ‘The Little Sister’ is her third full-length film. It premièred in the Main Competition at the Cannes IFF.
