Cousin Madenn is Gregoire’s film directorial debut. It premiered at the International Disability Film Festival (Assim Vivemos) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 5, 2015. The film won “Best documentary feature” at We Care Fest (New Delhi, India), the Spotlight's Silver Award and was also selected at Dok Leipzig (Germany), Inclús Barcelona (Spain) and Tartu World Film Festival (Estonia) among others.

SYNOPSIS

Madenn and Gregoire are cousins who have written to each other every day for 10 years. She suffers from a developmental disability. He is her closest friend.

Because Madenn has a profound need to communicate and an extremely endearing personality, Gregoire proposed putting her in the spotlight, showcasing her complexity and wealth of character. The film recounts Madenn's arrival at her cousin's home in Paris following a romantic break-up.

Cousin Madenn tells a young woman's story. Modern, realistic, sensitive, funny, uncontrollable, and very much in love, Madenn does not conform to our stereotypes about the developmentally disabled.

REVIEW

I screened 150 films for a documentary film festival in the past year and Cousin Madenn was in my top three list of all films viewed. Gregoire, the filmmaker and engaging co-star, takes us on a journey through Paris with his visiting cousin, Madenn. The film is spontaneous and quirky as we become a threesome with the pair as they explore Madenn's life, crippled by a disability, and the pleasure of Paris. There is an engaging and touching spirit about the film, which hit me unexpectedly. The film seemed spontaneous and real, unlike the tightly scripted documentaries we see so often. I usually am not so attracted to films about the filmmaker nor films which feature the frailty of the human mind, but I sat back and was quickly drawn in to Cousin Madenn.

Jim Pfeiffer / Member of the selection committee of Little Rock Film Festival