Rating 4 out of 5: A favorite of the new school year is there and “touched to tears”!

The first solo feature from Marie Amachukel (who co-directed Party Girl with Samuel Tay and Claire Burger), Àma Gloria is a thrilling drama that opened critics’ week at the recent Cannes Film Festival. In theaters today, the film has been well received by the press, with an average rating of 4/5 (from 22 critics).

What is it about?

Cleo is only six years old. He was madly in love with Gloria, his nanny who had raised him since birth. But Gloria must urgently return to Cape Verde, to her children. Before he leaves, Cleo asks him to make a promise: to see her as soon as possible. Gloria is invited to her family and her island to spend the last summer together.

What does the press think?

According to the latest news from Alsace:

“Ama Gloria would not be a wonderful film about childhood, at the height of a child, if it had not been miraculously shot.” By Natalie Chiflett 5/5

According to Le Journal du Dimanche:

“The director’s gaze on Cleo is filled with compassion and humanity, capturing situations with naturalism to convey their truth. An artistic gesture that amazes with its sweetness, tenderness, delicacy, simplicity, humility and purity.” By Stephanie Belpesh 5/5

According to humanity:

“Marie Amachuckel portrays the childhood love between a 6-year-old girl and her Cape Verdean nanny who is forced to return to her country. Presented at Cannes Critics’ Week, this conjecture is a tune that touches the heart.” By Sophie Joubert 4/5

According to The Obs:

“Against the tide of our time, this kind, sunny and sisterly film (what are Gloria and Cleo if not two sisters without a mother) that reconciles North and South, Paris and West Africa, is not only beautiful and fair. And through it, it also does good.” By Jerome Garcin 4/5

According to the cross:

“Mari Amachukeli’s film, shot at the height of a child, moves to tears with its precision and poetry.” By Celine Ruden 4/5

According to Les Inrockuptibles:

“We are quickly taken by the modesty, the restraint, the sweetness of the production, which never falls into too much emotion or misery, and its two performers: Ilcha Moreno and especially the young Louise Morroy-Panzani, absolute and already so mature. His Age.” by Jean-Baptiste Moren 4/5

According to Liberation:

“The film’s strength lies not only in the exceptional acting of Louise Morroy-Panzani, a born actress whose sincerity graces the screen, but also in its direction.” By Marie-Eve Lacasse 4/5

TV 2 by week:

“Interspersed with animated sequences that capture Cleo’s state of mind as she experiences separation, this captivating tale of learning owes much to its two main interpretations.” By Sebastien Ors 3/5