Product Description

Michele, a divorced aerobics instructor with a gambling addiction, loses her job and seeks refuge with a childhood friend, Janine, who lives in a seemingly comfortable middle-class suburban neighborhood. Michele's rebellious teenage daughter, Marguerite, and Janine's shy and reserved daughter, Gabrielle, become friends, leading to unforeseen tensions that force both generations to reassess their values. Familia explores the question of how value systems are passed on from mother to daughter and asks: Is it possible to avoid passing on to our children those traits that we despise in our parents?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #87361 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-06-26
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 108 minutes

Customer Reviews

Quirky Family Drama
Louise Archambault's first true feature film Familia is a quirky family drama that makes an attempt at exposing real feelings in the bounds of a film about family and friendships.

Sylvie Moreau plays Michele a down on her luck single mother trying to raise her teenage daughter (Mylène St-Sauveur) while supporting a gambling addiction. Due to an abusive relationship she heads out on the road and winds up living in the home of achildhood friend , Janine (Macha Grenon) also a mother with a teen daughter. Janine appears to live the perfect existence with an absent husband but there are cracks under the surface here also.

The film explores the relationships between mothers and daughters over three generations. While the actaul events that drive the plot seem somewhat contrived at times, Archambault's intentions are good and this is a well made independent film that is worth a view.

Released as part of the Film Movement series the main feature is paired with the short Recycle about a homeless poet in Los Angeles.