Madeleine
2023 · 15m · Canada
Directed by Raquel Sancinetti
Genres: animation, documentary
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
Brazilian-born filmmaker Raquel Sancinetti visits her 107-year-old friend Madeleine weekly at a Montreal retirement home, and uses stop-motion puppet animation to take her on the road trip to the sea they always dreamed of together. The film weaves fiction and documentary footage to explore friendship, aging, and the power of imagination.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
41-year-old filmmaker uses foam-puppet stop-motion to take her 107-year-old friend on the road trip she can't physically take. Genuinely novel form for a genuinely sentimental hook — and it's Oscars-qualifying, so the execution clears the bar.
Sancinetti uses foam stop-motion puppets to recreate her friendship with her 107-year-old subject and send her on a road trip she could never physically take — the Oscar-qualifying SIFF Grand Jury Prize signals the reception. A genuinely tender formal innovation.
Grand Jury Prize at SIFF (Oscar-qualifying), 14:54, 68K views — Sancinetti building stop-motion foam puppets to take her real 107-year-old friend on a trip she can't physically take is the kind of formal bridge that documentary needs animation for. La distributrice de films distribution backs this.
Reviews
Oscillates between fiction and reality, creating a universe where imagination becomes the engine of hope and joy — Madeleine herself is the heart of the film, embodying an irresistible charm despite being over 100 years old.
Chronicles a poignant road trip and a unique friendship, with foam stop-motion characters that convey softness and fragility.
Festivals
- Regard – Saguenay International Short Film Festival 2023, FIPRESCI Critics' Choice Award
- Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2023
- Slamdance Film Festival 2023
- Edmonton International Film Festival 2023, Grand Jury Prize + Best Documentary Short
- Uppsala International Short Film Festival 2023, Grand Jury Prize
- Gimli Film Festival 2023, Best Canadian Short Film
- DOXA Documentary Film Festival 2023
- FIPADOC – Biarritz International Documentary Festival 2024, Best Short Film
- Canadian Screen Awards 2024, Best Short Documentary
- Prix Iris (Quebec Cinema Awards) 2023, Best Short or Medium Length Animated Film