“September says”, interview with director Ariane Labed

May 24, 2024

Ariane Labed: “I wanted to explore how unconditional love in family can be very powerful and terribly dangerous”

“September says”, interview with director Ariane Labed Chiara Nicoletti

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After directing a successful short film, “Olla“, actress turned director Ariane Labed presents at the 77th Cannes Film Festival her debut feature, “September says“.

Based on Daisy Johnson’s 2020 novel’ Sisters’, the film stars the young though remarkable actresses Pascale Kann and Mia Tharia and, in the role of their mother, Rakhee Thakrar, well known for the Netflix series “Sex Education“.

“September says” depicts the loving but toxic relationship of codependence between two sisters, very close in age, the fragile but violent September and the most docile July.

Labed who admits to not remember whether she was always faithful to the book or not, as author Daisy Johnson gave her freedom to adapt it to screen as she felt right, explores power games and “how unconditional love in family can be very powerful and terribly dangerous”

Plot

Sisters July and September are thick as thieves, though very different - September is protective and distrustful of others, while July is open to and curious about the world. Their dynamic is a concern to their single mum, Sheela, who is unsure what to do with them. When September is suspended from their school, July is left to fend for herself and begins to assert her own independence - which does not go unnoticed by September. Tension among the three women builds when they take refuge in an old holiday home in Ireland, where July finds her bond with September shifting in ways she cannot entirely understand or control - and a series of surreal encounters test the family to their limit.

Written by: Chiara Nicoletti

Guest

Ariane Labed

Film

September says

Festival

Cannes Film Festival

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