Génération Mitterand

Marie-France is a journalist in Paris, Luc is a teacher in Vénissieux, and Michel is a factory worker in Belfort. At eighteen, they lived through the events of May ’68. In 1981, they voted for François Mitterrand. Then, in 2022, they voted for Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Marine Le Pen, respectively. To understand why they no longer agree on anything—and can no longer stand one another—they take turns playing “their” president.

Génération Mitterrand is the second installment in the series Huit rois (nos présidents). These deeply personal presidential portraits examine French society, looking at both those who shape it and those who live in it. At once tender, funny, and insightful, this second episode dramatizes the hopes and disillusionments of an entire generation.