Director Léa Gasquet will present her documentary "Pierrette and the Painter" on September 28 in Auffay, near Dieppe in Seine-Maritime, France. The film tells the story of a local painter who left for the United States, as recounted by his sister and the regular customers of a neighborhood café.
Gasquet, a journalist accustomed to working on programs broadcast on Arte, describes this project as her first venture as a director. Her smile becomes even more pronounced when discussing her medium-length documentary, which takes shape in a well-known café in Auffay, a delegated commune of Val-de-Scie near Dieppe called Le Blason.
"I know the region well because my grandparents are from Le Catelier," Gasquet explains with a smile. During one of her visits to the area, she stopped at the famous café and met Pierrette, the owner. "I recognized a lithograph that I had already seen at my grandparents' house, hanging in the bar," the director recalls.
Pierrette then shared the story of her brother René, a dock worker from Dieppe who left everything behind for the United States in the 1960s to pursue his art and chase the American dream. "I realized that more than her brother's story, what fascinated me was what Pierrette told about this story," Gasquet says. She understood that she wanted to make the owner of Le Blason the heroine of her first film.
Tragically, after meeting with Pierrette several times and beginning preliminary recordings, the café owner died of cancer. "I thought the project wouldn't be able to see the light of day, but I didn't want to stop – it meant too much to me. I had the recordings, and with the help of the café's regular customers, the project was able to resume," she continues.
Le Blason represents a type of café that barely exists anymore. Located on the square of the collegiate church of Auffay, it serves as a gathering place for regulars who all knew Pierrette well. "They had all heard about Pierrette's brother, and she loved telling stories so much that they all knew her brother," Gasquet confides.
With the support of these loyal patrons, "Pierrette and the Painter" was put back on track. Rather than simply following the trajectory of a Dieppe dock worker who emigrated to the United States, the film primarily explores the transmission of anecdotes told so many times that over time, it becomes difficult to distinguish truth from fiction. "As they are retold, the anecdotes become charged with fictional elements, but what matters is the transmission of stories and what it does to people to hear them," Gasquet explains.
"Pierrette and the Painter" also tells a story of emancipation through art – how a dock worker found himself immersed in the artistic world. To bring these anecdotes to life on screen, Gasquet could count on the café's regular customers, who didn't hesitate to perform in front of her camera.
On September 28, 2025, she will present her film to them at the Auffay community center at 7 p.m. "I think they're going to be proud of themselves. I hope they'll recognize themselves in the film, but obviously I'm a bit nervous because they trusted me, and I hope I'll live up to their expectations," the director concludes. The screening of "Pierrette and the Painter" will take place on Friday, September 26 at 7 p.m. at the Auffay community center, with free admission.
