First trailer with English subtitles for LE RETOUR (HOMECOMING) — Catherine Corsini’s Cannes Film Festival 2023 competition entry about a woman named Khédidja who works for a wealthy Parisian family, and is offered an opportunity to take care of their children for a summer in Corsica. Khédidja brings her two teenage daughters along for the trip in a drama that explores themes of cultural identity, social class, and the dynamics of employer-employee relationships.
Aissatou Diallo Sagna, Esther Gohourou and Suzy Bemba star.
LE RETOUR was initially withdrawn from the official selection of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival due to what French media said was a simulated sex scene involving a minor.
Corsini and her producing partner Elisabeth Perez denied all the allegations and said that there is no complaint of any kind against them. They also admitted to not abiding by protocol and declaring the scene involving the minors but said that the young actors in question were fully clothed and there was no touching or inappropriate contact between them.
The film’s sales agent Playtime said that the accusations were “extraordinarily damaging” and that the industry should not be paralyzed by anonymous accusations. Meanwhile, the Cannes Film Festival remained quiet, eventually accepting the film into its Competition lineup.
LE RETOUR has been released in France but remains without distribution in any English-language territories. We reviewed it at Cannes, calling it a mixed bag of emotions and experiences.
Here’s the trailer:
If you appreciate our coverage here and on social media and would like to support us, please consider donating today. Your contribution will help us continue to do our work in coverage of African cinema and, more importantly, grow the platform so that it reaches its potential, and our comprehensive vision for it. Thank you for being so supportive: https://gofund.me/013bc9f2.