13/04/2022 - Clara Teper and Paul Pirritano sign a powerful first feature about a young mother struggling to free herself from the abuse of an alcoholic and violent partner

Presented as a world premiere in the International Feature Film Competition at Visions du réel 2022, Chaylla is one of those films that shake you to your core, that with (apparent) simplicity manage to trigger deep emotions, creating an immediate connection and solidarity between the protagonists (in this case the magnetic and courageous Chaylla) and the audience. Thanks to an approach that is both empathetic and extremely precise, inevitably reminiscent of that of the Dardenne brothers, Clara Teper and Paul Pirritano manage to give literal form to their protagonist's anxieties and pain without ever lapsing into pathos, leaving her simply (and finally) free to express herself.

Chaylla's story takes place in Lens, a small town like many others, in the north of France. When the filmmakers begin to follow her (and they will do so for four years), she is only twenty-three years old but already has many bad experiences behind her: a childhood like that of many of the "DDASS children" that leaves no room for dreams, and above all a violent and alcoholic partner whom she timidly tries to get rid of after he ripped away what little self-esteem she still had left. Sharing her daily life is Melvin, their four-year-old son suffering from mucoviscidosis, who will soon be joined by Warren, the result of a brief reunion with her partner.

Although the need to separate definitively from the father of her two children becomes more and more urgent, the nefarious influence he has always exerted on her, wielding the weapon of a toxic and sad masculinity, delays her final decision more and more. Over the long and painful separation process, the dreams of "normality" are definitively shattered and make way for other, more modest but certainly more solid and tender truths, such as the deep friendship with Pauline and Babette, on which the film ends – a conclusion that, in reality, isn’t so much about how deep the scars left by violence (physical and psychological) are, like furrows that can be caressed but can never disappear.

The camera approaches its protagonist with a modesty but, at the same time, a determination that both seem to echo her temperament. Although the arguments are painful and everyday life sometimes leaves little room for hope, the camera never lets go of Chaylla, often filming her in close-up (the magnetism of her face and the resigned determination of her eyes are incredible) or filming the back of her head, childish and exposed to the wind with her hair cut short, as if to push her forward, always and despite everything.

What the film also highlights is the importance of the alliance between women in a context where gender binarism permeates everything up to the most fatal consequences, where masculinity is expressed almost only through anger and frustration, where women are the only outlet for an everyday life that annihilates everything and everyone. Although Prince Charming is still the protagonist of Chaylla's and her best friend Pauline's dreams, this becomes more and more a (troublesome) habit, leaving room for tender and deep friendships, the fertile ground on which the protagonist can finally begin to rebuild herself.

Chaylla is produced by Novanima Productions.

(Translated from Italian)