WHAT REMAINS OF THE LOVES OF OUR MOTHERS

by Cathy Dubois
2025 – 67 & 52 minutes – France

In 1950s France, before independence, my mother, blonde with blue eyes, fell in love with a handsome Senegalese man. He disappeared before I was born. All I have left of him is the colour of my skin and the hostile or friendly encounters it has provoked. It was in this social environment that my outlook was formed and my imagination nourished. What remains of the loves of our mothers is an exploration of this Africanity, which is the territory of my identity, resistant to any label. A territory without borders, carried by images of Brittany, the sea and boats returning to port. A territory where the jazz of Jacques Schwartz-Bart, the sounds of the city, the breath of the wind and the surf of the waves mingle.

A Les Films de la pluie production
With the participation of France Télévisions (France 3 Bretagne & Heure D)
With the participation of le CNC (aide au développement renforcé du FAIA, aide à la production du FSA) et du Fonds Images de la Diversité - l’Agence Nationale de la Cohésion des territoires - Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée
With the support of la Région Bretagne in partnership with le CNC, of la Procirep-Angoa, and of l'association Images sans frontière
With the support to writing of la Région Île-de-France in partnership with le CNC
Bourse Brouillon d'un rêve de la SCAM with the support of La Culture avec la Copie Privée and l'aide à la création de musique originale de la SACEM

Written & directed by Cathy Dubois
Image : Cathy Dubois, Gurvan Hue
Additional images : Tanguy Alanou
Sound : Pablo Salaün
Music studio recording : François Delabrière
Voice-over mixing : Jean-Marc Schick
Sound effects : Olivier Chatron
Editing : Flore Guillet
Sound editing & sound mix : Pablo Salaün
Color grading & credits : Cédric Jouan
Documentalist : Morgane Barrier
Choreographer dancer : Georgette Kala-Lobé
Original music : Jacques Schwartz-Bart
Musicians : Arnaud Dolmen, Grégory Privat, Reggie Washington
Artistic collaborators : Elodie Ferré, Yaël Vidan, Isabelle Rèbre
Directing assistants : Tom Fontenille, Olga Kravets