Mon coeur de tomate (My Tomato Heart)
2023 · 15m · Canada
Directed by Benoît Le Rouzès Ménard
Tones: melancholic, tender
Madeleine, a beloved and efficient employee at a neighborhood grocery store who has Down syndrome, is devastated when she's told she must retire — feeling as though her entire life is being taken away.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Beloved grocery clerk with Down syndrome forced into retirement. Tender. Meaningful. Exactly the prestige-short shape that gets a polite nod from me and nothing more.
Ménard centers a character with Down syndrome without making the disability the subject — the discipline is right, and Travelling Distribution carries serious Québec shorts. Tender rather than transformative.
14:50 Quebec-Canadian piece with cinematography by Vincent Biron (Bestiaire DP, Boris sans Béatrice DP) — that single credit elevates this. Centering a character with Down syndrome around forced retirement rather than disability is the right framing inversion.
Reviews
Writer/director Benoît Le Rouzès Ménard crafts a poignant narrative, with a strong female character at its center whose Down syndrome is not the focal point of her story.
Actress Stéphanie Colle delivers an impressive performance as Madeleine, navigating the nuances of her character while reacting to a life-changing transition.
Festivals
- Festival du Nouveau Cinéma 2023
- Vancouver International Film Festival 2023
- SXSW Film Festival 2024
- Calgary International Film Festival 2024