MY DONKEY, MY LOVER & I

AVAILABLE TO WATCH IN THE U.S.: Wednesday, October 21 @8am PST → Monday, October 26 @8am PST
Paired with the short film OUT OF RANGE.
Rent MY DONKEY, MY LOVER & I + Out of Range!
Rent the MiniFest PASS

Join our Zoom Discussion with le Professeur Kevin Elstob & the SFFF Team • Sunday October 25 @ 6:30pm PST.
Please RSVP to kelstob@csus.edu to receive the Zoom invitations.

My Donkey, My Lover and I – an English title that doesn’t really do justice to Antoinette dans les Cévennes – was the hit romantic comedy of the fall in France! From female director Caroline Vignal, this sassy comedy is illuminated by the radiant Laure Calamy in a breakthrough role.

You may know Calamy from the acclaimed TV show Call My Agent, available on Netflix (which also stars Grégory Montel, Perfumes – playing this year at the MiniFest). You also may recognize her from _Sibyl _ (Virtual Cinema) and Our Struggles (SFFF 2019).

Antoinette (Calamy) is a school teacher looking forward to her long-planned summer holidays with her secret lover Vladimir (Benjamin Lavernhe, C’est la vie! – MiniFest 2018), the father of one of her students. But, on the night of the school talent show, Vladimir unexpectedly cancels: his wife (Olivia Côte) has organized a surprise trek in the Cévennes National Park (south-east of France) with their daughter and a donkey! Disappointed and now free for the week, Antoinette decides to follow them and give Vladimir a surprise of her own! When she arrives, Vladimir and his family are not there yet, but she is introduced to Patrick – the recalcitrant but endearing donkey who will be her companion on a majestic and hilarious journey.

Antoinette and Patrick travel on a trail made famous by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson in his 1879 book Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes. The trail that runs for approximately 140 miles now bears his name: Le Chemin de Stevenson.

Not Rated (adult themes).

Original title: Antoinette dans les Cévennes

Reviews

A hilarious emancipation tale, hidden under a rural vaudeville. Clarisse Fabre – Le Monde

We laugh heartily with Antoinette, so tender and naive with her disarming spontaneity, her doubts, her mirages… Sabrina Nadjar – Femme Actuelle

A hysterical comedy carried by an irresistible actress, in her first major movie role. Nathalie Simon – Le Figaro

An unpretentious film that offers us a real moment of escape. And makes us want to go climb some summits there next summer. Jérémy Patrelle – GQ

A romantic comedy full of happiness. Isabelle Magnier – Télé 7 Jours