MAISON DU BONHEUR

About to turn 30, with 30 rolls of film, a Bolex, and a sound recorder in her suitcase, a woman (Sofia) decides to capture the domestic day-to-day in the Maison du Bonheur over the course of 30 days. The guardian of this good home is Juliane, an astrologer who has lived in the Haussmannian apartment for over 50 years. Her balconies are drenched with hydrangeas to cheer onlookers and to keep the mosquitoes away. Inside this chest, there is not one but many treasures to examine. Juliane generously shows and explains them all, one roll of film at a time. We traverse the years she has lived in this home through her wardrobe: full of magnificent gowns and shoes; her kitchen: full of delicious secrets; the people in her life: her mentor, De Gaulle’s astrologer. It’s not only objects and memories that the Maison du bonheur keeps but a way of seizing existence in the present with utmost pleasure.

Written by Lucía Salas

Available to watch on The Criterion Channel, DAFilms, and Kanopy.

 [trailer] [press kit]