The youngest of the César was crowned Best female hope.
Moved, the fourteen-year-old girl thanked the entire film crew, her parents and called on
"all people of
[her]
age"
to
"follow their dream"
.
Fathia Youssouf, now returned to her school life, confided in the columns of the
Parisian
to
"concentrate on school"
and to see
"after if [she wants] to make other films"
.
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Although the proposals are raining.
She was twelve years old when she auditioned for the role of Amy, the heroine of the film
Mignonnes
.
A friend of her mother spotted the ad on Facebook.
“I didn't think of making films
,” explains the young girl.
But the role corresponded to my age group and you had to like dancing… ”
Fathia does not have a single acting lesson in her hands but she shines during the tests.
To the point of upsetting Maïmouna Doucouré who will admit to having cried in the face of the performance of the pre-adolescent girl.
The Franco-Senegalese director despaired of finding the face of her first feature film, which had auditioned more than seven hundred young girls.
To read also: Boycott of
Mignonnes
: the French directors denounce an attack on the
"freedom of creation"
The character played by Fathia, a twelve-year-old girl, is caught between a religious family culture and her group of friends, the “mignonnes”, suggestive little dancers in a hurry to grow up.
The shooting is a moment of grace for the young actress, who will still have to wait two years before being able to admire her performance in the cinema, the release of the film, initially scheduled for April 1, 2020, having had to be postponed to August 19, 2020. due to the pandemic.
The reviews are rave.
The young girl transcends the screen.
But the controversy is also swelling, little by little.
Pre-teens, almost little girls, presented in seductive poses on some posters - especially those broadcast in the United States - it does not pass.
Accused of "hypersexualization", the film of the director Caesarized in 2018, for his short film
Maman (s)
, is banned in Turkey and strongly reviled across the Atlantic
.
Yet Fathia assures him:
“It didn't affect me.
I thought that these people had not understood the message of the film, which says that you have to grow up with your age, not too quickly, and do what you like without relying on the eyes of others ”
.
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New debate during the announcement of the nominees for the Césars.
The Academy believes that Fathia's minor status prevents her from claiming to integrate the “revelations” category, that is to say the twenty-four young actresses and actors preselected for the best hope.
This regulation has not, however, prevented Lise Leplat-Prudhomme, twelve, and Idir Ben Addi, fourteen, from competing in 2020.
But two weeks later, the
New York Times
places the young girl among the twenty actors of 2020. Hope is once again allowed for Maïmouna Doucouré to see her actress rewarded.
The director then applies to contact many voters of the Césars, reminding them that the published list is only indicative.
Nothing prevents them, in fact, from appointing Fathia Youssouf.
The lobbying worked and the actress was therefore distinguished among her competitors Julia Piaton, India Hair, Mélissa Guers and Camille Rutherford.