Avril

Avril is not your typical 21 year old. Raised by nuns in a secluded, austere convent, she has been sheltered: from friends, music, boys, even her true identity. Until, sympathetic Soeur Bernadette informs Avril that she has a brother. Already isolated prior to making her eternal vows, Avril escapes to discover her brother, her identity and the world beyond the convent with its controlling Mère Marie-Joseph. From Calvados to The Camargue; from friend Pierre to brother David and his lover Jim; from dancing and swimming, to sensuality and temptation. Life is ready for Avril. Is she ready for life?

Born in 1968, it seems no coincidence that Avril and David are questioning and transitioning. Avril’s journey is central, yet every character experiences change. Delicately negotiating past and present, childhood and adulthood, April in Love eludes sentimentality and melodrama (unlike many screen depictions of nuns, including Black Narcissus and A Nun’s Story). Avril is awakened, by her three ‘surrogate guardians’, to a world she has never known. But it is she who, through her untainted outlook, stirs on their own acceptance of the past and embracing of the present.

Sophie Quinton – director Gérald Hustache-Mathieu’s leading lady of choice - deploys her unmistakable charm and exuberance. Talented co-stars include Miou-Miou (Memoirs of a French Whore by Daniel Duval and Dry Cleaning by Nicole Kunstler) and Nicolas Duvauchelle (The Girl on the Train by André Téchiné, White Material by Claire Denis).

Mathieu and cinematographer Aurélien Devaux create poetic contrasts, illustrating the bright-eyed Avril’s transitory journey between the climes of Calvados and Camargue, bare walls and colourful décor, religious habits and swimsuits.

April in Love won Le Prix Cinema de la Fondation Diane & Lucien Barriere, and cemented the exciting promise of Mathieu’s debut, Peau de Vache (2003), winner of the French Academy Award for best short film.

Kate Ingram