Short synopsis

In Madagascar, in 1977, two young mixed-race sisters were separated by a repatriation policy implemented by France and Madagascar. Since then, they have never seen each other again. Forty years later, I decide to trace the steps of this buried past by accompanying the promised reunion between my mother and my aunt on the island.

Statement of intent

ZAFY PETITE FILLE DE is a family investigation that tells the story of my mother’s return to Madagascar and her reunion with her sister. This journey becomes an opportunity for me to understand the reasons behind their separation. Why had they never seen each other again, despite their daily phone conversations for 40 years? My family story then plunges us into a more collective memory, that of the particular fate of mixed-race children in Madagascar after independence. Through images from the present and archival footage from the past, the film explores themes of transmission, memory, and exile for two generations of Malagasy women.