Intrigued and inspired by an unexpected encounter with an older neighbour, Leila spends her last days in the suburbs exploring her identity through nude photography. As she faces her transition to adulthood, Leila is confronted with her changing relationship to her best friend Cassy.

Director Statement

On the night I moved out of the suburbs where I grew up and into my first apartment in Montréal, I wrote the first draft of Falena. While this film explores what I was experiencing at that time in 2017, the coming-of-age film genre has always played an important role in shaping my worldview. From Tu dors Nicole to Frances Ha to Mustang, films that feature evolving relationships between young women are particularly touching to me.

Through Falena, I wanted to portray a character who was not the archetypal self-critical, body-conscious young woman who we so often see on screen. Instead, Leila looks at herself in the mirror with curiosity - with intrigue. In trying to capture her body by taking a nude self-portrait, she seeks to better understand who she is, and to use artistic expression as a way of naming and claiming her identity. It's important to me that the act of taking nude photos is not sexualized in my film. As nude bodies are often sexualized in the context of the coming-of-age genre, I want to encourage the audience to find beauty in nudity that is not related to vanity, desire, or the male gaze.

My work is based on my personal experiences, on moments in my life that I want to explore in order to better understand my own sense of self. I am interested in exploring my own view of my body, how it is influenced by the gaze of others, and how it affects the way I take up space in the world.