LA BELLE ANNÉE
Details
Angelica Ruffier I 2026 SE NO I 95’ I French, Swedish
Awards
Special Jury Prize @ IFFR tiger competition
Honorable mention @ Tempo IFF
Quotes
“grace, emotional connection and delicate charm” - Screen Daily
"an ode to the power of love." - Film verdict
“touching in every respect” - Cineuropa
“a distinctive voice” - Eye for films
"a sensual spectacle of craving and longing" - Dirty Movies
“delicately layered” - Documentary magazine
Special Jury Prize for la Belle Année - Business doc Europe
“Full of Triumph” - Purple hour
Synopsis
After the death of her estranged father, Angelica and her brother are forced to return to their childhood home — a big house in the french countryside overflowing with unspeakable clutter and the lingering presence of their despotic parent. As Angelica begins the overwhelming task of clearing it out, she comes across her teenage diaries, resurrecting a secret and fierce love she once harbored for her history teacher, Mademoiselle B.
Through the words of the diaries, Angelica’s adolescent infatuation unfolds in the present. For a brief time, the house transforms into a space where memories, fantasies, and desires are vividly relived. As her list of duties never seems to diminish, an intense longing grows within Angelica: to meet Mademoiselle B again.
La belle année is Angelica Ruffier’s autobiographical odyssey through the year following her parent’s death. The film weaves together decisive documentary moments with cinematically staged dreams, raising questions about what shapes our character and our lives — who we choose to call family, and what we do with the memory of a passion.
Festivals
IFFR (NL), Tempo IFF (SE), CPH:DOX (DK)
Credits
Directed by Angelica Ruffier
Produced by Marta Dauliūtė & Brynhildur Þórarinsdóttir, MDEMC (Sweden)
Co-produced by Elisabeth Kleppe, Aldeles AS (Norway)
Director’s Bio
Angelica Ruffier is a scriptwriter and director, born in Luleå, Sweden, raised in France and living in Sweden since 2017. Angelica holds a Master’s degree in documentary directing from Stockholm University of the Arts. “La belle année” is her first feature film, one of three projects winning the Swedish Film Institute’s Wild Card in 2023. , a support granted to new directors to develop their debut feature. It was also a part of the talent program Film Stockholm Debut, and has so far been pitched at Nordic Talent pitch, Cannes Docs as a part of The Five Nordics showcase and Nordisk Panorama Forum.
