15/09/2022 - After Cuties, Maïmouna Doucouré successfully tries her hand at the modern fairytale, following a determined young heroine who dreams of being adopted by Michelle Obama

“There is no door that cannot be opened". This is the kind of optimistic saying that powerfully resonates on paper, but which it isn’t always easy to turn into a reality. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and it is in that line of thought, which brings together an inaccessible, possibly naive dream, and a steely resolve rooted in an unusual audacity, that French filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré has anchored her second feature film, Hawa, unveiled in the Platform competition of the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.

A film full of charm, tenderness and incredible adventures, centred on a high-school student out of the ordinary (she is a black albino) who, under the Damocles sword of a foster care placement, gets it into her head to get adopted by Michelle Obama while the woman is in Paris for a few days. An apparently vain quest, and whoever she reveals this secret wish to just laughs. But Hawa (Sania Halifa), used to mockery and obstacles since her childhood, has a very strong character and the impossible could never stop her, or prevent her from believing in her dreams. 

With her bifocal glasses, her blonde afro and her incisive laconicism, Hawa is a unique girl and sensitive dreamer, but in her cosmopolitan Parisian neighbourhood, she has her points of reference: her small job as a cashier at the Ranvi’s grocery store, her very shy neighbour and schoolmate Erwan (Titouan Gerbier) and, most of all, her grandmother Maminata (Oumou Sangaré), a griot who imparts to her niece the art of narrative singing, has taught her the bambara and whom Hawa loves deeply. But Maminata is gravely ill and will soon leave this world. A new home and a future must therefore be found for Hawa, who balks at every suggestion for adoption (from her cousins, since parents are never to be seen).

A Paris Match cover story then catches Hawa’s eye and she decides, against all odds, that the former First Lady of the United States will take her under her wing. But how to approach and talk to her? Armed only with her scooter and an incredible nerve, Hawa will make many fantastic attempts and, in the process, cross paths with a few celebrities (the singer Yseult, the astronaut Thomas Pesquet) who become fond of her. But the untouchable Michelle Obama still escapes her, so Hawa insists, again and again… 

After Cuties [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Maïmouna Doucouré
film profile] immediately propelled her to fame, Maïmouna Doucouré has intelligently chosen a different and rather unexpected register, that of the modern fairytale (maintaining however a sufficient level of realism to preserve an air of authenticity). Following her quirky heroine and on the border between comedy and drama, the filmmaker inserts themes that are dear to her (biculturalism, the energy of youth, goodwill, the idea that “a single star is enough to keep believing", etc.) without falling into caricature. Full of surprising misadventures (the script is written by the director together with Alain-Michel Blanc and Zangro), the film turns out to be entertaining, but also moving in its faith in the powers of stubborn innocence (“we can’t give up”). This transmission of humanistic values echoes the destiny of a filmmaker who forged her path by overcoming obstacles that initially seemed insurmountable, and who will surely continue to surprise us. 

Hawa was produced by Bien ou Bien Productions for Amazon Prime Video.

(Translated from French)