Gabrielle

Gabrielle is a 22-year-old woman with Williams syndrome, a genetic disorder that often slows cognitive skills while increasing sociability and musical talent. She sings in a Montreal choir with other disabled adults, where she meets and falls in love with the dashingly handsome Martin. The bliss of first love is interrupted, however, by Martin's interfering mother, who worries that special needs individuals aren't sufficiently fit for romantic relationships. What emerges in Louise Archambault's sweet, unassuming and confidently directed film is a portrait of a young woman fighting, in her own way, for acceptance and independence, and for her right to experience life's highs and lows— with joy, pain, confusion and eventual understanding.