The Giraffe's Neck

Nine-year-old Mathilde has lived alone with her mother, Helene, since her parents got divorced and her grandfather had a heart operation. Mathilde's bad grades cause a lot of friction between herself and her mother. She often hides under her bed where she's created her own world full of mysteries. One night, Mathilde runs away to the nursing home where her grandfather, Paul, is recovering. In her hands, she has a letter from Madeleine, her grandmother, who disappeared thirty years before. Mathilde has worked out that her family has been lying to her; her grandmother isn't dead. She's come to get Paul so that he can help her find Madeleine. They take the dawn train for Biarritz... Helene is upset to find dozens of letters from her mother among Mathilde's things and to discover that her father has been hiding what he knows from her. She heads to the south west of France in her car... A journey toward truth thus begins for Paul, Mathilde and Helene. Screens collapse, secrets and lies fade. Thanks to Mathilde's strength and sense of purpose, the trio will at last be able to speak honestly with each other.