# And Their Children After Them (film)

And Their Children After Them (French: Leurs enfants après eux) is a 2024 French coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma. It is an adaptation of the 2018 novel of the same name by Nicolas Mathieu. It stars Paul Kircher, Angelina Woreth, Sayyid El Alami, Gilles Lellouche and Ludivine Sagnier.
The film premiered on 31 August 2024 at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where Kircher won the Marcello Mastroianni Award. It won the top prize (Giraldillo de Oro) in 2024 at Spain's Seville European Film Festival.

## Plot

A coming-of-age story following three teenagers across four summers in a small deindustrialized town in the northeast of France between 1992 and 1999.

## Cast

* Paul Kircher as Anthony
* Angelina Woreth as Steph
* Sayyid El Alami as Hacine
* Gilles Lellouche as Patrick
* Ludivine Sagnier as Hélène
* Anouk Villemin
* Louis Memmi

## Production

And Their Children After Them is an adaptation of Nicolas Mathieu's 2018 novel of the same name, which received the prestigious Prix Goncourt.
The film is produced by Hugo Sélignac for Chi-Fou-Mi Productions and by Alain Attal for Trésor Films, in co-production with France 3 Cinéma. According to the producers, Nicolas Mathieu had been approached by many others filmmakers who were interested in producing "naturalistic adaptations". They won him over with their promise of an ambitious project in the style of Paul Thomas Anderson and Martin Scorsese, with Romanesque qualities.
Principal photography began on 25 July and took place in France's Grand Est region, including in the Fensch valley (Moselle) and in the Vosges. The 55-day shoot with Augustin Barbaroux as director of photography was wrapped on 10 October 2023, on the pier of the Lac de Pierre-Percée (Meurthe-et-Moselle).

## Release

And Their Children After Them had its world premiere on 31 August 2024 as part of the official competition at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. The film was originally set to be released theatrically in France by Warner Bros. Pictures on 18 September 2024, but the release date was pushed back to 4 December 2024. French and international sales are handled by Paris-based company Charades.

## Reception
### Critical response

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

### Awards and nominations

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
| Lumière Awards | 20 January 2025 | Best Actor | Paul Kircher | Nominated |
| Lumière Awards | 20 January 2025 | Best Male Revelation | Sayyid El Alami | Nominated |
| Lumière Awards | 20 January 2025 | Best Music | Amaury Chabauty | Nominated |
| Seville European Film Festival | 16 November 2024 | Golden Giraldillo | Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma | Won |
| Seville European Film Festival | 16 November 2024 | Best Actor | Paul Kircher | Won |
| Venice Film Festival | 7 September 2024 | Golden Lion | Ludovic Boukherma and Zoran Boukherma | Nominated |
| Venice Film Festival | 7 September 2024 | Marcello Mastroianni Award | Paul Kircher | Won |