Bio

How does our environment make us what we are? Who shapes the dreams that we think are ours? How much space is left for being yourself?

Those questions underlie JUICE, Le 4125, rue Parthenaisand Junior. Films about men’s worlds where only winners matter and losers are invisible, taking solace in their sincerity.

After turning 30 and becoming a mother, Isabelle Lavigne turned her attention to a women’s world, making La nuit, elles dansent (At Night, They Dance). She remains as interested as ever in the intersections between social order and difference, observing a family of belly dancers who – by simply making a living – transgress against moral order.

Thanks to the time she invests and the trust she builds with her subjects, Isabelle Lavigne’s films take us inside dramatically rich microcosms, which she patiently explores in great depth. The result is real-life narratives that resemble fiction.

Works

At Night, They Dance

  • 2010

Filmed in Cairo, "At Night, They Dance" is one family’s story. The film takes us into the heart of a clan of women, in which the art of dancing has been passed down from mother to daughter since time immemorial.

Photo of At Night, They Dance