The Secret of the Ant Children

The film follows men over several years who reach the age their father was when he died. Among these men are Cyrill Renaud, the son of filmmaker Renaud Victor, who carries the weight of an interrupted work, and Cyril Casmèze, a zoomorphic acrobat who has made working with animality a mode of protection and survival. It is an exploration of grief over the long term, a story of fathers and sons, but also a story of mothers and sons. When the father is gone, the relationship to the mother changes. The film is constructed in two chapters. One that looks back on the brutality of the loss and the trauma, the other that opens up the future, the transformation, the rebirth, now that these men have outgrown their father and allow themselves to live. A third man, Loup, joins them. He too has lost his father and "being a father in turn" has been a way to move forward.

Marie-Laure and Carla have been in love for 25 years. Their three daughters were conceived by insemination. The law protects Marie-Laure's relationship with the girls because she is their biological mother. However, in order to be recognized as the second parent of the girls, Carla had to initiate a simple adoption procedure for Giulietta, Luana and Zelina. The film visits the file of testimonies that was sent to the Judge. The witnesses (mostly heterosexual and having children) question themselves on parenthood, biological or not, on the consequences of the absence of a father, on the difference of the sexes, on the evolution of the family... Their crossed words build Carla's place. Why not a family with two moms?

One Saturday in spring, Simone, 17, receives a letter that will be a source of endless anguish. The strong ties with her sick father, André, although she loves him as much as he scares her, sometimes take up too much space in her life and prevent her from imagining a life elsewhere.