Amélie Bonnin’s romantic dramedy Leave One Day (Partir un Jour) made history at the Cannes Film Festival this evening, becoming the first debut feature to ever open the event.
It also got a five-minute-plus ovation from the crowd.
Leave One Day builds on Bonnin’s 2023 César-winning short film of the same name. The romantic musical revolves around rising chef Cécile (Juliette Armanet), who is about to fulfill a lifelong ambition of opening her own signature gourmet restaurant in Paris.
Cécile is forced to put the project on hold when her father suffers a heart attack and she is called back to her small hometown. Exasperated at being cut off from her bustling life in Paris, she unexpectedly reconnects with a teenage crush, Raphaël (Bastien Bouillon). The meeting rekindles long-buried memories and leads Cécile to question past choices and the current direction of her life.
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One of France’s most popular contemporary singers, Armanet was introduced to international audiences last summer with her performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine” in front of a burning piano on a barge on the Seine River during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Co-written with Dimitri Lucas, Leave One Day is produced by Topshot Films and Les Films du Worso, in co-production with Pathé and France 3 Cinéma.
Pathé International is handling world sales and Pathé Films has French rights. In keeping with Cannes protocol, Pathé Films released Leave One Day in France at the same time as the world premiere here at the festival.
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The Croisette premiere followed an opening ceremony that saw Robert De Niro give an impassioned speech for democracy and the arts in the face of Donald Trump’s sweeping funding cuts and proposed film tariffs.
