An actor in projects directed by the likes of Léa Mysius and Jean-Pierre Améris, Valentine Cadic has also been active on the short film circuit as a director, most notably with 2022’s The Summer Holidays. That work set the stage and tone for her feature debut That Summer in Paris (Le rendez-vous de l’été), whose gentle Rohmer-like tone, already evoked in the title, has made it a hit on the festival circuit throughout 2025, beginning with its world premiere at the Berlinale. Fans of French arthouse cinema will be particularly well served by this story of human relationships amidst the chaotic streets of the capital.
Shot on location during the actual 2024 Olympics, the film shows a woman (Blandine Madec, reprising her role from The Summer Holidays) arriving in Paris right in the middle of the sports-induced chaos in the month of August. Blandine, who hails from Normandy and is not used to the big city life, struggles to get settled in at first as she has to navigate the realities of finding – and keeping – a place to stay at a time when the population increases exponentially (sort of like attending a major film festival).
But the Olympic Games are not the only reason Blandine is in the French capital. In fact, they’re not even the main reason, no matter how much she insists otherwise. What actually gives her joy during this trip is getting to reconnect with her half-sister Julie (India Hair), with whom she hasn’t had any real contact in ten years, and meet her young niece Alma (Lou Deleuze) for the first time. As she juggles new and old relationships, Blandine slowly figures out how to get by in a world so alien to her, while the athletic frenzy dominates the entire city.
Madec, in her second feature film performance, is a subdued revelation with her sunny disposition and naturalistic style, her lack of fame making her the ideal person to follow around as she interacts with the very real 2024 Paris in a believably touristy way. She blends in with ease, becoming one with the portrait of a city that’s even busier than usual and injecting her outsider experience into the mix, making the film feel less Parisian than it technically is. Perhaps due to her own experience in front of the camera, Cadic gets perfectly calibrated work out of everyone: all the characters feel lived-in, and even India Hair, the one cast member with a modicum of celebrity status, disappears completely into the role of Julie, coming across as part of the family rather than some sort of guest star who may have felt like stunt casting in a different kind of project.
Though set towards the potentially melancholic end of the summer, the film remains a very breezy affair, its 75 minutes conveying a sense of free-spiritedness where fiction and reality intermingle effortlessly. It’s a warm and charming piece of independent filmmaking where a huge event becomes a delightful excuse to just hang out with an unconventional family for little over an hour. And by the time we’re done, we kind of wish we could stay with them a little longer.
Director: Valentine Cadic
Screenwriter: Mariette Désert
Cast: Blandine Madec, India Hair, Arcadi Radeff, Matthias Jacquin, Lou Deleuze, Béryl Gastaldello
Producers: Arnaud Bruttin, Antoine Jouve, Masa Sawada
Cinematography: Naomi Amarger
Production design: Sarah Jane Morelli
Music: Saint DX
Sound: Olivier Goinard
Production companies: Comme des Cinémas, Cinq de Trèfle Productions
World sales: Urban Sales
Venue: Cairo International Film Festival (International Critics’ Week Competition)
In French
75 minutes
