Chicks

Sophie Letourneur is one of the most interesting filmmakers in contemporary French cinema. Since graduating from the Duperré Design School and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) in 2004, she has completed five feature films, including her 2019 film Énorme, which received the prestigious Prix Jean Vigo and was listed by Cahiers du cinéma as one of the ten best films of 2019. We are excited to be programming two of her films – her debut feature, Chicks (2009), and the West Coast premiere of her most recent feature, Voyages en Italie (2023).

Made with a cast of non-professionals, Chicks established Letourneur as one of the important chroniclers of 21st century youth culture in France. Roommates Pam and Manon spend all day drinking, smoking, and gossiping about their love lives with a group of other young 20-somethings in a Parisian apartment they dub “the Ranch.” But is this all that life has to offer? Somewhere between a Hawksian hang-out film and an observational documentary, Chicks (in French, La vie au ranch, literally “Life on the Ranch”) was a success when it premiered in France in 2009. It received both the Best French Film and Audience Award at the Belfort Film Festival. Programmed by Jonathan Mackris and Discordia.