Damien Samedi lives in a village in Wallonia. He works from time to time as a gardener and has a close relationship with his mother. Everyday life in the village, which has seen better times, Samedi's quiet and friendly nature and the still largely intact rural setting stand in stark contrast to the heroin addiction Samedi has suffered from for over 20 years, which only his family knows about. His relationship with his mother changes when he makes another attempt to get clean.
Awards
- GRAND PRIX DU JURY DIAGONALES - 33RD PREMIERS PLANS FESTIVAL D'ANGERS
- Le Bayard D’or Du Meilleur Film (Best Film) - FIFF Namur
- Prix Agnès (Best Vision of Gender Equality)
Festivals
Labels & Line Ups
Credits
- Cast
- Damien Samedi
- Ysma Sermon-Daï
- Screenplay
- Paloma Sermon-Daï
- Cinematography
- Frédéric Noirhomme
- Editing
- Lenka Fillnerova
Director's Statement
In 2018, my brother Damien wasn’t doing very well at all; he tried to get help but struggled to find a facility which suited his needs. I wanted to take hold of all of that, as if it were a huge lump of earth, and say: "We’re going to take all of this muck and make a statue out of it" (...) It’s a very static film, after all, and we wanted it to be increasingly personal. This closeness also pushes viewers to ask themselves what they would have done.
- Sales
- HERETIC OUTREACH
- Production
- MICHIGAN FILMS
Paloma Sermon-Daï
Belgium
Cinema allows me to express myself without too much anxiety, without being too exposed.
Born in Namur, Belgium, in 1992. From 2005 to 2012, she attended the Athénée Royal Jean Tousseul in Andenne, and went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in Cinematographic Technique at the Haute École Libre de Bruxelles Ilya Prigogine (HELB). PETIT SAMEDI (2020) is her first feature-length film, which premiered at Berlinale Forum 2020.
