When in a 1975 TV appearance, she was asked the eternal question of how to define “women’s cinema”, Liliane de Kermadec replied: “As a woman, I’m looking for my identity. As a filmmaker, I’m looking for my language.” Cut through with feminist discourse, Liliane de Kermadec’s work has never ceased to be the stage on which she plays out her experimentation. Released in 1965, her second short film, Qui donc a rêvé?, is a bold and categorical illustration of this. This experimental film, shot in dream-like black and white, was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. The young heroine, Alice, in a quest for power, runs into Delphine Seyrig, playing a somewhat vulnerable white queen. Qui donc a rêvé? stands out in its aesthetic virtuosity and hypnotic camera movements that plunge us into a dream. The colour red crops up briefly, like a surprise. Liliane de Kermadec has always approached feminism in her filmmaking in a nuanced way, and Qui donc a rêvé? is no exception. The young Alice, finally acceding to the throne as queen, is reducedtoherphysicalappearanceonce she has been crowned. Delphine Seyrig heaps praise on her, exclaiming repeatedly, “You’re so beautiful!”, an ironic statement from one of the strongest voices in feminism. When the excitement of the film is over, these questions remain: what is the source of our imaginary life, and who has not had a dream?

Zoé Richard