Tënk's opinion

The opening scene of "Mat and Her Mates" shows two sisters taking a bath, brushing each other’s hair and giving massages. Taking care among sisters, and gaining self-consciousness are the immediate suggestions of this film by Pauline Penichout. The film director films a group of young women, reunited in the safe space of a squat in Nantes. A place where they can chat and share, a place where they can organise their lives in an attempt to make up for society’s androcentric approach to sex and the female body. Amidst delicate filming, the filmmaker fully captures this notion of sharing and the chaste exploration of the body, reiterating that, far from literary representations, each body is quite unique. And each human being is quite unique, in the consciousness of their own bodies, their desires, their feelings and their loving relationships. A film on self-knowledge as a means of overcoming traditional schemas.

Aurélien Marsais
Programmer