BEST OF FESTS

PENDANT CE TEMPS SUR TERRE

2024 / 88 min / color

23-year-old Elsa has always had a tight bond with her older brother Franck. When she receives the news that Franck has disappeared during a space mission, her world is turned upside down. She puts her plans to go to art school in Paris on hold, and starts working as a caretaker in a retirement home. Life goes on, but a statue of an astronaut erected on a nearby roundabout is a daily reminder of the painful loss of the person she shared so much with. Then one day Elsa is contacted by an unidentified life form that convinces her there’s a possibility of bringing her brother back to Earth. Meanwhile on Earth is the debut feature debut from French director Jérémy Clapin, who had quite a triumph a few years back with his outstanding, Oscar-nominated animation short I Lost My Body (2019). His new film combines multiple genres, spanning from sci-fi and fairytale to action adventure and all the way to existential drama, dealing with the theme of grief. Clapin’s film is one of the most interesting French debuts of the past year.