Céline Sciamma cut 25 minutes of Girls Band

A Céline Sciamma retrospective began yesterday with truncated versions of Tomboy and Bande de Filles.

Over the years, Girls band has been accused of cultural appropriation. Critics have questioned the legitimacy of Céline Sciamma in tackling this subject, given her social status. Faced with these accusations, the filmmaker decided to cut 25 minutes from the film, including the opening scene where the heroines play American football. She was nominated for a César for best director in 2015 for this feature film.

“I only kept the gestures of love, it’s beautiful too”, she declared to the World.

On the occasion of a retrospective devoted to his filmography, which takes place until June 16 at the Mk2 Bibliothèque in Paris, this new version of gang of girlsalso renamed Girlhoodis presented to the public. Tomboy which tells the story of a girl pretending to be a boy, was also “relieved of short moments of violence (a slap), humiliation or reassignment (the final response)“, describes everyday life. The filmmaker explains that she is trying to trade less”the spectator’s empathy against the character’s trauma“.

Céline Sciamma’s filmography began with Birth of octopuses and also been marked by Portrait of the girl on fire (screenplay prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival), two films starring Adèle Haenel. We remember the César ceremony in 2020, where the two women stood up in protest after the César for best director awarded to Roman Polanski. As part of this retrospective, the two women will also give a masterclass on Sunday June 7 around directing, acting and writing.

Céline Sciamma will also present a new work, a 45-minute short film entitled Tutti Fruticomposed of documentary archives that she has filmed since 2022, which she describes as “a solo practice of cinema”.

More info on the MK2 website