Suzanne (Suzanne Lindon) is a 16-year-old girl, withdrawn and calm, who lives harmoniously with her sister and her parents in a Parisian apartment. In her comings and goings to school she begins to observe Raphaël (Arnaud Valois), a handsome theater actor twenty years May that she frequents a bar and rehearses and performs in a theater in the area. Finally there will be a meeting that will lead to a romance between the two.

The protagonist, daughter of the renowned actors Vincente Lindon and Sandrine Kiberlain (she notably played Simone de Beauvoir in the film Violette) is also the director and screenwriter (she directed this film at age 20 and wrote the script at age 15) of this delicate story of initiation and love between two sentient beings, lonely and bored with their environments and activities.

Despite being a problematic subject, Lindon clearly proposes from her point of view a development where spontaneity and sweetness prevail and surprises with the use of some original scenes that could well be taken as sublimations or metaphors.

16 printemps is a film that looks to poetry but is never naive (and neither is its protagonist) and that is committed to running away from the vision very in vogue in current fiction of adolescence as a territory of conflict, suffering, excess and abuses.

Here she left a report to the director (better to see it after the film, perhaps), which reveals a great cinephile culture and very clear ideas.

Special Mention SIGNIS 35 Award of the Mar del Plata Festival

Written at the tender age of 15, directed and acted at the age of 19, this is Suzanne Lindon's personal coming-of-age retelling. Where the film excels is its gentle approach to the delicate subject matter that never feels sexualized nor uncomfortable. Lindon's ne plus ultra is a series of several beautifully choreographed, artistic dances with her costar, Arnaud Valois. These alluring scenes feel very much like an implicit allegory that viewers are supposed to interpret.

The downturn is the film's absence of resolving questions about an adolescent's inability to handle complex adult relationships, though it manages to successfully navigate around the clichés of this genre. At a mere 72 minute runtime, the relationship dissolves as fast as it builds.

Ultimately, many viewers will be left feeling insatiable when the credits roll...

This is such a beautiful movie. I loved everything about it. The ending was just right. The acting, the cinematography, the writing, all very inspirational and so pleasing to take in. There is something to be said for thoughtful conversation and genuine feeling, and I can see the correlation to the movies of Eric Rohmer and "Paris, Texas" as Suzanne said in an interview. Incredible work from such a young and talented source. Please give us more. My favorite scene is probably the short one in the cafe involving a kiss on the neck and the holding of hands. No dialogue. None was needed. Thank you.