C’est gratuit pour les filles by Marie Amachoukeli and Claire Burger

It’s interesting to realise how differently directors make use of short films. While some will use the format to experiment with shape or content, others will see them as a portfolio; proof that they are ready to move on to bigger – and longer - projects.

C’est gratuit pour les filles belongs to this last category. Directors Claire Burger and Marie Amachoukeli focus on a social cinema: our two protagonists are girls living in the suburbs, dealing with everyday problems and dreaming of a better future. If the content is clearly fictional, the language is closer to documentary: the camera shakes freely from one face to the other, following characters as they move; there’s no artificial light, the dialogues seem improvised; there’s no psychologism or major dramatic conflicts.

If the cinema of Abdellatif Kechiche or the Dardenne brothers come to mind when watching this short film, it’s not only as an inspiration: C’est gratuit pour les filles doesn’t want to honour these directors, but mostly join the group, be on the same level as them. Burger and Amachoukeli show that they are mature and ready to conquer features – whether we should consider that a “noble” use of short films or not. Let’s wait for their next step.

Bruno Carmelo