HALMEONI
in the selection of DCIFF 2026 FEATURE FILM
THE PITCH:
As a heat wave devastates the country, a residence for elderly people finds itself cut off from the world, subjected to brutal water rationing. The director, Phil, imposes an authoritarian regime where water distribution becomes an instrument of power. Josephine, 82 years old, a former activist, refuses to submit. In secret, she rallies other residents for a sabotage operation. ( France / 2025 / 45 mins )
THE PROJECT:
HALMEONI is an intergenerational film made with real elderly residents aged 68 to 91, alongside a young technical crew aged 18 to 25. The film was entirely shot in the senior residence where the actors live, following six months of collective preparation.
THE SCREENING:
A small part of the film’s team will have the opportunity to attend the festival in Washington to present the film in person and take part in post-screening Q&As and other official festival events.
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THE DIRECTOR:
Born on January 20, 2005 in Bourges, Lenny Maréchal discovers his passion for the cinema through the writing of short films and the cinema option at the Marguerite high school in Navarre. There he realized his first collective projects and staged a musical presented at the Maison de la Culture in Bourges, confirming his taste for directing actors and visual narration.
Selected twice in competition at the Festival du Film de Demain (FFD) of Vierzon, he gradually asserts a singular perspective combining formal requirement and sense of the collective. He is currently preparing a new short film more social and frenetic, while developing the film adaptation of a novel and working on several audiovisual projects. His cinema is part of an approach both committed, sensory and deeply human.
