Ama Gloria

A six-year-old and her beloved Cape Verdean nanny are given one last summer to say goodbye in Marie Amachoukeli's moving drama.

It’s tempting to read a colonial narrative in Cléo’s reluctant surrender of the only maternal figure she has ever known. But Louise Mauroy-Panzani’s uncanny performance ensures we’re solely fixated on the child’s psychodrama.

The mixed media technique cuts through the film’s naturalism to bring forth something felt and ineffable, akin to the rich, vivid worlds within children’s imaginations, as well as the haziness with which we recall childhood memories.

Overall, Áma Gloria is a sweet and tender movie with beautifully complex characters – Cléo may very well be one of the best-written child characters I have seen on screen in a very long time – and an emotional narrative.