That Summer in Paris

France, summer of 2024, at the height of the Paris Olympic Games. The protagonist is Blandine, a thirty-something woman who arrives from Normandy eager to experience something new. Her goal is to attend the swimming competitions, reunite with her stepsister Julie after a decade apart, and meet for the first time her niece Alma, a girl she has yet to meet in person.

Used to the calm and chosen solitude of her hometown, Blandine finds herself abruptly immersed in the chaos of Paris during the games. A crowded city, saturated with tourists, athletes, and popular fervor.

The story blends fiction and documentary, constantly adapting to the real pulse of the Olympic city. Director Valentine Cadic wrote a script that transformed day by day according to the energy of the environment: the cancellation of a swimming event due to Seine pollution, the spontaneous people who burst into scenes, or moments that captured the hustle and bustle of urban life.

It is precisely this contrast between the global spectacle and emotional intimacy that defines the tone of the film. Blandine experiences a loneliness that is not a lack, but a space for reflection. The film addresses themes such as not wanting to be a mother, the end of a romantic relationship by personal choice, and her existential doubts.

Blandine is rejected at a youth hostel for having surpassed the age limit just during the games. This incident forces her to seek out her stepsister, triggering a reunion filled with tension and revelations after more than a decade without contact.

Niece Alma, curious and spontaneous, introduces incisive questions and dilemmas about identity, motherhood, and belonging. Blandine observes with a certain distance and humor Julie's obsession with professional swimmer Béryl Gastaldello, who shares her life with her followers on social media.

Over the course of 77 minutes, the film charts an inner journey: Blandine gets lost in crowded streets, initiates fleeting connections, encounters new faces, rekindles old ties, and reconstructs her own image. Paris becomes a vast mirror where she learns to recognize herself, reconnect with herself, and define her emotional path.

The debut film by Valentine Cadic, winner of the Luna de València Award for Best Film at the Cinema Jove Festival (València, June 2025), has been praised by critics for its "silent precision, emotional honesty, and ability to find poetry in the everyday".