Fragments of a Life Loved

Three decades of videos, photographs and letters are patchworked together, telling the story of French filmmaker Chloé Barreau’s own love life in an honest yet narcissistic style (it could be no other way). The ex-lovers – and there are many – speak openly on camera about their falling for, being in love and falling out of love with Barreau.

The director herself is a mere flash of a reflection in the camera. The story being built is as much about those she loved as it is about her. Possibly one of the most blatantly honest of ‘tell-alls’, this visual history’s a chronological countdown of lovers sharing what drew them to her and the experience of loving a woman who would not let herself be labelled. At times a libidinous cad but also a romantic, she affected change in others to embrace being loved and being loving. As one old flame says, “It’s like landing in a new country and saying, ‘Wow, it’s beautiful. Has this been here all the time?’ Love her or not, Barreau’s story will reel you in hook, line and sinker.