Q&A: Céline Sciamma on unearthing moments of transformation

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Céline Sciamma’s “Petite Maman” runs a mere 72 minutes and yet packs a lifetime of enchantment. It is, she says, “a pocket film you can take home.” The film, which opens in theaters Friday, is the French writer-director’s follow-up to her 2019 award-winning love story “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” Whereas that film took a specific 18th period setting, “Petite Maman” is more contemporary yet still out of time. An 8-year-old girl encounters another girl who looks exactly like her in the woods, who turns out to be her mother as a child. Now playing in theaters, “Petite Maman” has been received as a gem of a fairy tale.