A teenage girl grieving over the recent death of her father and her penchant for sleepwalking to the places they visited together whilst he was alive is the focus in the new supernatural drama OURSE – LITTLE BEAR.
Little Bear (Armande Boulanger) is a bright student at the school where her mother (Aude Ruyter) teaches. Her father died recently and suddenly and it appears the grief and trauma are manifesting themselves in the form of regular bouts of sleepwalking. At the outset, Little Bear has woken up with what appears to be cuts and bruises, prompting her mother to see a specialist (Stéphan Jones)
Her best friend, Jordan (Éliès Bachta) seems to think Little Bear could be self-harming and he has his own troubles with school bully Baptiste (Swann Birkenstock). Confiding in Jordan, Little Bear is persuaded by him to wear a GoPro and see where her route into the dark unknown will take her….
Nicolas Birkenstock, working from a script he co-wrote with Jonathan Colinet, utilises some familiar supernatural motifs with an imaginative homage to GHOST and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY which is not so reliant on the jump scare, but a willingness to delve deeper into the theme of detachment from reality whenever a major emotional block is emphasised. Boulanger, Bachta and Ruyter hold the frame well in an assured short form entry.
OURSE – LITTLE BEAR is one of several amazing short films showcasing at this year’s online Paris International Film Festival, running until 20th February, 2022.
Tickets and info:
https://www.parisintlfest.com/
