Grandir

Grandir is a 2013 first-person French documentary film by Dominique Cabrera. The film, whose working title was O Happy Days! (Ô Heureux jours !), is a follow-up to the filmmaker's 1995 film diary Tomorrow and Tomorrow Again (Demain et encore demain). In Grandir, Cabrera expanded her diaristic approach, starting by filming family at her brother's wedding in Massachusetts.^[2] According to the filmmaker, this was a way of appreciating them more deeply, cherishing them while they're alive.^[3] From there, the filmmaker continued recording events and gatherings – holidays, births, and her father's funeral^[4] – in the hopes of grappling with family secrets, which might explain her anxiety and persistent insomnia.^[5] She also traveled to Algeria with her sister to investigate the mysterious conditions surrounding their mother's birth.^[6]

Cabrera met one of the film's editors, Isidore Bethel, when she was a visiting professor in Harvard's film program^[7] and advising his undergraduate thesis.^[8] Bethel also concurrently edited Cabrera's short film "Goat Milk," which focuses on grief and Cabrera's interactions with family living in Massachusetts.^[9]

Grandir premiered at the Cinéma du Réel, where it won the festival's Potemkine Prize,^[10] before screening at the La Rochelle International Film Festival^[11] and ACID Cannes.^[12] It received favorable press coverage from Le Monde,^[13] Télérama,^[14] Critikat,^[15] Culturopoing,^[16] and Challenges.^[17] Splendor Films released the film in theaters in France,^[18] and Potemkine Films released it on DVD.^[19] The Institut Français in London screened Grandir in 2016.^[20] A 2021 retrospective of Cabrera's work at the Pompidou Center included the film with an introduction from fellow autobiographical filmmaker Ross McElwee.^[21]

• Grandir at IMDb