Mikado

Australian Premiere

Mikado and Laetitia lead an alternative lifestyle aboard a van with their homeschooled children, Nuage and Zephir. One day they cross paths with Vincent, whose car has broken down, a chance encounter that will end up changing their carefree lives forever. When Mikado’s van breaks down, Vincent returns the favour by offering his garden as a temporary camping ground. Three weeks in the same place gives this itinerant family a taste of normality: Nuage befriends Vincent’s daughter, and Laetitia seems to enjoy the comfort of a steady home.

Director Baya Kasmi has crafted a beautiful drama about a family living off the grid whose bond is shattered when their seemingly carefree lifestyle is challenged by convention. While all of the lead performances are terrific, it is Félix Moati as the conflicted patriarch Mikado, desperately struggling to hold this once-tight family unit together and feeling the trap of domesticity closing in on him, who gives the film its heartwarming – and heartbreaking – core.