Marine Atlan wins the Grand Prix with her first feature, La Gradiva

Marine Atlan paints a precise portrait of French youth with La Gradiva, her first feature film. The movie follows a class of high school students on a school trip to Pompeii, caught between budding desire and a search for identity. Premiered at Cannes, it generated immediate buzz. La Gradiva was awarded the Grand Prix of the Critics' Week, while thousands of high schoolers took to the streets for their demands. According to AlloCiné, the director notes that young people now use a very precise language to discuss mental health, sexual orientations and ecological issues, while still confronting a patriarchal society and a feeling of omnipotence. The film thus captures the fragility and intelligence of post-Covid adolescence.