About

The director Charlène Favier has a butcher’s at sport champions’ factory, here it is the Alpine skiing. One of its “products” is a 16-year-old Lyz – an ambitious, hard-working, gifted, but also very desperate girl. After her parents’ divorce she lost touch with her father, and her mother is more focused on herself and her new job than on providing attention and care to her daughter. Lyz becomes close to her harsh, sometimes even violent coach who forgets that he’s dealing with a teenager, not a grown woman… Vivid as teenage athletes’ emotions, the film Slalom belongs to the “coming of age” genre, and its undeniable advantage is the script (written by the director) and the amazing Noée Abita cast as Lyz.

Slalom is a smart metaphor of a woman growing up in the world of traps and the pace of life which often prevents any deeper reflexion. For it is usually not about who will reach the finish line first, but at what cost.

Favier’s film is one of the fifty titles awarded with the “Cannes Label” quality mark. The director must have been relieved when she learnt that this year she won’t have to compete for the Palme d’Or…

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