La Petite Fille aux allumettes

She hasn’t sold a match all day and does dare go back to her father for fear of being beaten. Exhausted, hungry and shivering, she curls up in a corner. Gradually numbed by the cold, she strikes a match, then a second, and a third... they give off heat, light and soon –thanks to fairy tale magic– wonderful visions. A stove, a feast, a bright Christmas tree, all so many enchanting incarnations that last only as long as a match burns. “When a star falls, a soul ascends to God”: her grandmother’s words come back to her, then her kind face appears. The little girl takes the hand of the loving woman and both disappear.

Hans Christian Andersen, the author
Poor and orphaned at a young age, Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) travelled to Copenhagen at the age of 14 to seek his fortune. Throughout his life he wrote novels, often inspired by his personal experience. He was also the author of several autobiographies, a voluminous correspondence, and a sizeable diary. However, it was his fairy tales, written over a period of more than forty years, which earned the Danish author worldwide fame. These stories, which for a long time now have been part of world heritage, are characterised by their skilful use of the vernacular, and their subtle descriptions of emotions embedded in the fantastical world of the fairy tale.

Olivier Meyrou, the director
After studying literature, Olivier Meyrou enrolled at the Femis film school. He continued his studies in New York and made his first documentaries, Bye-Bye Apartheid then Beyond Hatred and Celebration –prizewiners at the Berlin Film Festival respectively in 2006 and 2007–, The Devil’s Advocate and Parade. He is also interested in acrobatic theatre, directing Acrobates and Tu. Olivier Meyrou’s work with the forms of fiction is always grounded in reality. His Little Match Girl takes inspiration from the humanity of the actors to tell a story about a family, also that of the theatre. As in a picture box, in a set design made out of projections, he proposes a journey into the dream world of this universal tale.