L'Apprenante (The Learner) is our cofounder's, Angelique Kalani Axelrode @angaxelrode, first short film that premiered at Frameline in 2023 and was shortlisted for the Colin Higgins Youth Grant.
L’Apprenante is an American college student in the process of “finding herself abroad” in Paris. She takes French classes to immerse herself in the culture, even though her accent is tragique. In one particular class, she struggles to recount her weekend where she goes to a Parisian party and meets La Femme; a girl she is immediately drawn to. As she navigates the discomfort of learning a new language, she also navigates the discomfort of learning about her queerness. Her inability to get out of her head inhibits her not only from improving her French, but also from being vulnerable with La Femme. Will she ever be able to commit to the accent and make a move? Impossible n’est pas français.
Starring
L'Apprenante - Tatiana Ringsby @tringsby
La Femme - Camille De Mori @cheemmil
La Professeure - Mélanie Dulong
Writer/director - Angelique Kalani Axelrode @angaxelrode
Producer - Angelique Kalani Axelrode
Producer - Hannah Fishlow
Producer - Cordelia Hare
Consulting Producer - Caytha Jentis
Director of Photography - Oriane Brunello
Editors - Jacqui Carrière & Oriane Brunello
Original Score - Caroline Ho
Creative Consultant - Oriane Brunello
Key Grip and Sound Mixer - Alix
Set Designer - Oriane Brunello
Sound Mixer - Wassim Hammami
Production Assistant - Jean Le Chaudelec
Hair & Makeup - Elena Marchenko
Sound Designers - Marka
Sound Editor - Philip Nauman
Colorist - Taylor Pool
Second Unit Director of Photography - Sean Boyd
Second Unit Key Grip - Val Hovanesian
Second Unit Sound Mixer - Jaime Tapia
Second Unit Set Designer - Ash Davis
Party Extras - Arthur Back, Sara Juric, Catalina Augspach, Cordelia Hare, Daniel Krentzel, Babett Kürschner, Meredith Mentz, Azario Momo, Jack O’Melveny, Christina Piliouni, Sabina Smith, Vittoria Ubaldi
With the participation of L’Area Paris and Language Apart
Contact
akaprodco@gmail.com
IG: @akaprodco
IMDB: www.imdb.com/title/tt29551138/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk
All rights reserved.
*As a direct translation, this film would be more aptly titled “L’Étudiante” (The Student). However, we chose to title this work “L’Apprenante” (The Learner) for two main reasons. First, while our protagonist is featured in French class, she is not a student in the regular sense. Rather, she epitomizes the identity of the “learner”, as she is forced to realize lessons regarding self-identity, intimacy and sexuality, without formal instructions. As she comes into her queerness, she must familiarize herself with foreign norms and different expectations, without a formal handbook. It is an experience as unfamiliar as learning a new language, and one without any direct translation to the mainstream, heteronormative existence. This is the second reason why we chose the French word that only the non-native speaker would think appropriate.
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