Expecting L'Attente

by Alice Douard

France
2022
30 min
French
Short film
Fiction
Color
DCP

In Competition 2022

Official synopsis

In the maternity ward, Céline awaits the arrival of her first child. Jeanne, her partner, will bring her into the world. At night, in the entrance hall of the hospital, Céline meets men who are waiting, just like herself.

The programmer’s eye

With “Expecting”, Alice Douard perseveres in the exploration of femininity and family relationships by transgressing the sacrosanct nature of motherhood and childbirth. The film frankly yet ingeniously raises the question of the place one occupies in a homosexual couple expecting a child. It rehabilitates the model of the “long-term” couple by giving – thanks to the authenticity Lætitia Dosch and Clotilde Hesme’s acting – a modern and joyful image of the one formed by the protagonists. The film feels like a suspended moment from which one comes out as breathless as they are invigorated.

Zoé Lacôme

Biography and Filmography

After studying Art History, Alice Douard attended La Fémis in the Directing department. Her final-year film, “Extrasystole” (2013), was acquired by Arte and selected at numerous festivals, such as Clermont-Ferrand, Angers, or Pantin. She went on to direct two other short films, “Girls” (2015) and “Due West” (2019), which explore some of her favourite themes: womanhood, the search for identity within a group, and family relationships. In parallel, Alice Douard works as a script on shorts and feature films. “Expecting” (2022) is her fourth short film.

 

2022 : EXPECTING (SHORT) - Alice Douard - Director and Screenwriter

2019 : DUE WEST (SHORT) - Alice Douard - Director and Screenwriter

2017 : ROBIN - Alice Douard - Director

2015 : GIRLS (SHORT) - Alice Douard - Director and Screenwriter

2013 : EXTRASYSTOLE (SHORT) - Alice Douard - Director and Screenwriter

Alice Douard

Clotilde Hesme, Laetitia Dosch, Émilie Brisavoine…

Les Films de June

Manifest

by Alice Douard

After studying Art History, Alice Douard attended La Fémis in the Directing department. Her final-year film, “Extrasystole” (2013), was acquired by Arte and selected at numerous festivals, such as Clermont-Ferrand, Angers, or Pantin. She went on to direct two other short films, “Girls” (2015) and “Due West” (2019), which explore some of her favourite themes: womanhood, the search for identity within a group, and family relationships. In parallel, Alice Douard works as a script on shorts and feature films. “Expecting” (2022) is her fourth short film.

 

2022 : EXPECTING (SHORT) - Alice Douard - Director and Screenwriter

2019 : DUE WEST (SHORT) - Alice Douard - Director and Screenwriter

2017 : ROBIN - Alice Douard - Director

2015 : GIRLS (SHORT) - Alice Douard - Director and Screenwriter

2013 : EXTRASYSTOLE (SHORT) - Alice Douard - Director and Screenwriter