Angela

“Angela” (1996) is a short fiction film by Arnold Pasquier.  

“Dominique can’t get over the loss of Angela. He gathers a few friends in his garden, who propose, through their songs and dances, a response to her absence”.  

Remark by Arnold Pasquier in 2019 :  

“The story behind this short film dates back to the writing of a novel ”Période simple” (1986), written when I was a pupil at Montgeron high school (91). It is a highly spontaneous gesture of writing that seeks, in a text and in a place — a suburban home — to create a shelter by means of fiction for Nathalie de Barros, a school friend, whose state of health and condition of existence were of concern to me. This novel was to enter a contest (Prix du Jeune écrivain, 1987) and would be published (as an extract) by the éditions Milan. This would be followed by a long process of writing and re-writing, in the form of a full-length scenario, which would be examined by the plenary commission at the C.N.C, without ever obtaining funding for its accomplishment. It was nearly ten years after drafting the manuscript of the novel that I produced the short film “Angela“, the story of which is not true to the first text. What remains is the home as a meeting place, and the group of friends. The loss of Angela Allegrezza in 1989, one of the characters in the novel, marked a turning point, both in my work and in the story. The short film and its story then sought to create a place to resolve a bereavement where friendship, song, and dance reflect the issue of absence. »