Jane by Charlotte

Available for rental for a month!
Friday, May 6, 2022 @ 12:00am PDT → Monday, June 6 @ 11:59pm PDT

At the Sacramento French Film Festival, we love Serge Gainsbourg! We have shared this love with you often over the years, like when we organized musical events around Gainsbourg’s birthday and presented the biopic Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life at the 2011 SFFF. Our love of Serge extends to his remarkable daughter, actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg (Samba, SFFF 2015; Promise at Dawn, SFFF 2019; My Dog Stupid, Virtual SFFF 2020) and we are particularly delighted to present Charlotte’s directorial debut, Jane by Charlotte, an emotional portrait of her mother, French-British star Jane Birkin.

The title Jane by Charlotte pays homage to Agnès Varda’s 1988 docudrama, Jane B. par Agnès V., which featured Birkin, at 40, considering her iconic status. Birkin became famous as Serge Gainsbourg’s muse and partner in the 1960s before pursuing a successful solo career as both a singer and actress. Jane by Charlotte captures a more intimate side of Birkin, who, at 74, lives alone in a small village in Brittany. Under the camera lens of her daughter, she reveals herself as an artist, a mother, and a woman aging gracefully after overcoming tragedy.

The film is both personal and universal, telling the story of a mother-daughter relationship that evolved over the years and letting us witness their reconnection.

Fun fact: Serge Gainsbourg’s fans will be thrilled to know that the film includes a private tour of his Parisian home, following Charlotte and Jane in a trip down memory lane. The house has not changed much since Gainsbourg’s death in 1991 and will soon open as a museum.

Not Rated (all audiences).

Original Title: Jane par Charlotte