Angelica Ruffier’s debut feature unfolds like a visual diary, broken down into chapters et al. It’s almost as if the director made the film for herself. The focus is on her emotions and intimacy. The fragmented structure reflects memory rather than chronology.

After the death of their father, Angelica and her brother return to their idyllic teenage home in southern France. Funereal duties temporarily suspend emotions. The two adults must arrange the burial of their father while also juggling unforeseen responsibilities. The house they once called home now feels distant and detached from their reality. Angelica finds her old diary and starts reading it. Her long-forgotten writings become a connecting thread between the painful memories of her father’s abusive behaviour and the rosy recollections of her high school crush on her beautiful French teacher.

Ruffier blends her soft and commanding voiceover with black-and-white archive footage of her childhood with her father. She gently introduces the topic of queerness into the proceedings. Her approach is poetic, thoughtful and reflexive. The Lesbian experience is grounded in impossibilities and yearning. The narrative is robust and of emotional resonance, if a little laborious at times.

Two deaths – the director’s father’s and grandfather’s – help to emphasise the movie’s meditative tone. On the other hand, they also enable the filmmaker to break with years of waiting, triggering the active search for her unrequited love. The narration of Ruffier’s desire for the teacher, combined with classical music and the images of French film divas, helps to craft a sense of estrangement. La Belle Année becomes a sensual spectacle of craving and longing. Be prepared for a surprising and heartwarming ending. Overall, this a documentary confident in its perception of Sapphic desire. The taste of love lingers long after the curtains close.

La Belle Année just premiered in the 54th edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.