Ponette (1996): This film enters the mystery of a little girl’s mind at the age of four when she has all of her intelligence but little experience and information and has to struggle with the death of her mother. Immersed in grief, her experiences mirror what many of us who have known the death of a loved one. Like Ponette, we may see ourselves confronting anger, judgment, guilt, blame, confusion, misinformation, and puzzling dreams. The story is part real-life, part fantasy, not unlike what we all experience in this world of illusions.
It stars Victoire Thivisol, whose performance won the best actress award at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. “In the matter of child acting,” writes film and theater critic Stanley Kauffmann, “this is the most extraordinary picture I know.”
Here is a trailer for the movie and more details.