Montparnasse Bienvenue

After ten years together, Paula and her boyfriend break up, pushing her into a wild, painful and at times hysterically funny ride through the streets of Paris – with no money and no company except for her angora cat. Laetitia Dosch shines in the role as the tense, annoying and vulnerable Paula, a French version of Frances Ha searching for a new direction in her life.

With women in key roles behind and in front of the camera (direction, editing, cinematography, score, et cetera), this is a refreshing, new wave-inspired tale. Following Paula’s mood-swings, the film changes quickly between farce and misery, self-pity and biting irony. Montparnasse bienvenue is something quite valuable: a free-flowing portrait of a complex woman determined to life her life with defiance.

Leonore Serraille (b. 1986) is a French director and scriptwriter. She studied at the French film school La Femis, and also has a degree in literature. After directing several short films, she won the prestigious Camera D’Or in Cannes in 2017 for Best First Feature Film for Montparnasse Bienvenue.