Mémoire de fille

Paris, 2020. Annie Ernaux is invited to sign copies of her latest book in Rouen, the city where she grew up. The return takes her back to the summer of 1958, when she was seventeen and a half. A girl from a Catholic family in the French countryside, Annie longs to break free from her familiar surroundings. She takes a job as a counsellor at a summer camp, determined to gain new experiences and push her boundaries. But reality turns out differently.

Among the other counsellors, Annie stands out for her innocence and naivety, quickly becoming a target. The slightly older, attractive head counsellor singles her out as his next conquest and manages to seduce her into sleeping with him. It is Annie’s first sexual experience, but her loss of virginity is anything but tender. The experience haunts her for decades, while the shame and humiliation leave deep scars on her identity.

By revisiting her past, Annie attempts to better understand the seventeen-year-old girl she once was and explore how memories can become permanently embedded in the body.

This compelling French coming-of-age drama is directed by Judith Godrèche (Toutes les filles pleurent, Icon of French Cinema, Moi aussi) and is based on the autobiographical novel by Nobel Prize laureate Annie Ernaux.

In the role of the seventeen-year-old Annie in 1958, Godrèche’s daughter, actress Tess Barthélemy, makes palpable the confusion, obsession and shame that continue to shape her self-image and identity in the aftermath of a profound and formative first sexual experience.

Following its premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes 2026, the film was praised for its psychological depth, powerful performances and honest portrayal of a defining moment in a young woman’s life.