NICOLE by Chadi Bennani
NICOLE, Chadi Bennani
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23m
23 min., documentary, Québec, Canada, 2023
Directed by Chadi Bennani
Produced by L'École des médias de l'Université du Québec à Montréal - Romane Gagnon
Language French
Synopsis
In this touching documentary, filmmaker Chadi Bennani accompanies his mother, Dominique, as she sets out to empty Nicole’s apartment, her mother who passed two years prior. Through their discoveries, Dominique and Chadi share their memories of Nicole, as well as their apprehensions of a future without her. Searching to keep a promise made to her mother, Dominique quickly faces a home filled to the ceiling, displaying at first glance Nicole’s hoarding tendencies. However, this seemingly insurmountable task evokes much more for Dominique and Chadi, for whom each object embodies Nicole’s presence, accompanying them along the way. Harboring beauty and pain, this film presents the relationship between a mother and her son when facing the emptiness left by the departure of a loved one.