“Fragile”, by Emma Benestan, first screening of Seminci Joven in this 67th Seminci

The Seminci Joven section presented the French feature film Fragile at the Teatro Zorrilla on Monday 24 October. The screening was attended by its director, Emma Benestan, who stressed how important it was for her to try to break stereotypes. “It is a film in which men cry and girls are the ones who defend themselves and do not become a green plant in the living room of their flat, as Lila, one of the main
characters, says”, she said.

Fragile tells the story of Az (Yasin Houicha), an oyster farmer in love to the hilt, who believes that this time he has achieved his goal. But when his carefully prepared proposal goes wrong and his girlfriend Jess breaks his heart, he is forced to question his idea of happiness, both his girl’s and his own.

After the screening, Benestan also said she was “very happy with the audience’s reaction. To hear the applause. The film is for a young audience and it was important for me to make a film about friendship and the group”.

In addition, the director explained how necessary it is nowadays to include different ethnic groups in the audiovisual world and how she experienced this during her childhood. “I have lived in that mix, with friends who come from different places. I am French-Algerian. My father was Algerian and my mother French. For me it was important for the film to have a cultural mix and to portray friendship and not
violence” and she invited the audience to ”not lose their fragility and to show it whenever they want”.