Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival

Special program of the Jury

La vérité – For Real

France, 2023, 22’

The short film La vérité, written and directed by Malou Lévêque, tells the story of two young people, Dounia and Keny, who have known each other for a long time but have never had the courage to openly express their feelings. Beyond the fundamental role of bodies in shaping the dynamic between the two protagonists—whose physical presence works in constant relation to one another—the setting is also crucial. The story unfolds over an afternoon in Marseille, and the very layout of the city—with its architecture and its sea, symbolizing their desire for honesty and freedom—visibly influences how the characters interact with both their surroundings and with each other. With this film, the director seeks to explore the transitional period at the end of adolescence, while also challenging stereotypes about young people from the outskirts. Social context becomes a central theme here, as it was in her previous works. Moreover, questions of gender clearly emerge in the film’s portrayal of a social fabric that has forced the two teenagers into predefined roles, leading them to mask their true feelings behind a shield of pride they both carry. Lévêque describes the film as if she were depicting an intermediate, hybrid space with powerful creative potential. She states that its essence is: “Aggression clashing with tenderness, what we hide and what we reveal; it is the dream placed alongside reality. And little by little, the line between vulgarity and poetry fades away.”

The film has been showcased at numerous film festivals, including Festival Côté Court in Pantin, where it was nominated for the Grand Prix and won both the Coup de Cœur des Lycéens Award and the Prix Bande à Part (2024). Most recently, it achieved further recognition at the Angers Festival (2025), winning the Librarians' Award, the International Youth Award, the Audience Award, and the Female Actor Award for Oumnia Hanader.