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- Published: January 31, 2025 06:42
L’avance OTT Release Date: L’avance is a 2024 French short film directed by Djiby Kebe, with a runtime of 18 minutes.
Critics have praised L’avance for its nuanced storytelling and compelling performances. Various film festivals, including the Hamptons International Film Festival, have recognized the film, where it premiered on October 12, 2024.
As of February 2025, L’avance will be available for viewing on MUBI on the 1st of February 2025.
Plot
It tells the story of Aliou, a talented art student at the Beaux-Arts in Paris, who faces a deeply emotional and ethical dilemma. This involves his art, personal history, and financial struggles.
The film explores the intersection of personal loss, the commodification of art, and the tension between artistic integrity and survival. Aliou is an ambitious and dedicated student with a promising future in the art world. His mother’s death has shaped his life.
It is a loss that deeply affected him both emotionally and creatively.
His art serves as a way to process his grief and preserve his mother’s memory, with his paintings often featuring her likeness.
Despite his success in art school, Aliou faces financial difficulties. The weight of living in an expensive city like Paris holds him down, coupled with the pressure of supporting his artistic career, leaving him struggling to make ends meet.
It is a portrait of his late mother, created as part of his ongoing effort to cope with her absence. The emotional depth of the piece fascinates the collector. He offers Aliou a substantial sum—€3,000—for the painting.
While the offer is more than enough to alleviate his financial strain, it presents Aliou with a moral quandary. The painting, which holds such significant emotional value for him, threatens to become a commodity. The act of selling it would mean severing a tangible connection to his mother. That is something he hoped to hold onto forever.