Freely adapted from the eponymous 2009 memoir by Didier Eribon, which delineated the author’s return to the hometown he had abandoned thirty years earlier, Returning to Reims tells a personal and political story of the French working class from the beginning of the 1950s to today. Adèle Haenel narrates the story of a prodigal child returning home and a reconciliation that prompts discussion of a mother’s life, marriage, and the opportunities she never had. Director Jean-Gabriel Périot weaves a mosaic of wonderful archival footage through an intimate family history to vividly evoke shifting currents in the political life of the nation. DOM

Director’s note: Périot’s brilliantly constructed essay offers us an intimate, socio-political portrait of the French working class from the beginning of the 1950s through today. Compelling stuff!

Screening as part of the IFI French Film Festival, November 17 – 28.