Paris Memories

The sensitive and personal film “Paris Memories”, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival by the renowned French director Alice Winocour, deals with the question of how to restore one’s self and world image after a traumatic and confusing event. “Paris Memories” follows Mia (Virginie Efira) as she struggles to make sense of her experience in the aftermath of a violent attack. Determined to reconstruct the sequence of events and reestablish a sense of normalcy, Mia finds herself repeatedly returning to the bistro where the shooting happened. In the process she forms bonds with fellow survivors, including banker Thomas (Benoît Magimel) and teenager Félicia (Nastya Golubeva). As Mia works through her fractured memories, she starts to rebuild her life and reconnect with the city she loves.

According to the director Alice Winocour, she was not so much interested in the terrorist attack or its causes, but its effect on the victims (the director’s brother was also one of the survivors of the Bataclan attack in Paris). “None of them have a global view of the attack, only fragments, snatches, random images, like the splinters of a smashed mirror. My personal experience led me to concentrate on the survivors, with the idea of having Mia probe her own memory. That’s the focus of the film.”

Featuring outstanding performances, Winocour’s new film is a powerful story of hope, humanity and compassion.

Revoir Paris
„Paris Memories”
2022, France, 105′
Dir Alice Winocour

Language: French
Subtitles: Estonian

The Arvo Pärt Centre’s film evenings “Pärt & Film”, taking place from August 22nd to August 24th, exhibit the surprisingly rich and versatile film language of screen works in which Arvo Pärt’s music is used.