Paris Memories

A silver lining to trauma: how can one remember, process, and even emerge from an assassination attempt more compassionate than before? A powerful film about what happens after – from the winner of the Grand IFFMH Award 2022.

The life of the translator Mia is upended one night when someone tries to kill her. She survives, but can’t remember anything. What would be a blessing for others – forgetting – burdens her, she wants to know everything exactly. With the help of other survivors, she sets out to find the man who held her hand while she was hiding. Virginie Efira, now France’s biggest arthouse star, plays this woman, riding a motorcycle through the Parisian night, with remarkable restraint. As much as Mia is thrown off her own track, unable to work and also increasingly unsure about her relationship, she is present and open to the feelings of others. As she begins to process her trauma, Thomas, his leg injured, creeps into her life – Benoît Magimel plays this mischievous man who can remember everything. An honest film, earnestly and sensitively directed.

Director