{ "id": "epdr81jjkd", "slug": "water-lilies-2007-film", "title": "Water Lilies (2007 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films", "label": "Coming-of-age films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films.coming-of-age-films-released-2000-to-200", "label": "Coming-of-age films released 2000 to 2009", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films.coming-of-age-films-released-2000-to-200" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020: Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres) is Céline Sciamma's 2007 debut feature, a French drama about three teenage girls' first desires around a synchronized swimming team in Cergy; it premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard and won the 2007 Prix Louis-Delluc for first film.", "snippet": "Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres) is Céline Sciamma's 2007 debut feature, a French drama about three teenage girls' first desires around a synchronized swimming team in Cergy; it premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard and won the 2007 Prix Louis-Delluc for first film.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.coming-of-age-films.coming-of-age-films-released-2000-to-200", "markdown": "# Water Lilies (2007 film)\n\n**Water Lilies** (French: *Naissance des pieuvres*) is a 2007 French drama directed and written by [Céline Sciamma](https://www.edgepedia.org/celine-sciamma), her first feature film, about three teenage girls whose first experiences of desire unfold around a synchronized swimming team in a Paris suburb. It premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard selection[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/naissance-des-pieuvres/) and won the Prix Louis-Delluc for a first feature film, shared ex aequo with Mia Hansen-Løve's *Tout est pardonné*[2](https://www.lemonde.fr/vous/article/2010/10/23/naissance-des-pieuvres_1430350_3238.html).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writer | Céline Sciamma, 27 years old at the time of production; her first feature[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/naissance-des-pieuvres/) • [3](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2008/archive/water-lilies/) |\n| Cast | Pauline Acquart (Marie), Adèle Haenel (Floriane), Louise Blachère (Anne), Warren Jacquin (François)[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/naissance-des-pieuvres/) |\n| Festival and awards | Cannes 2007, Un Certain Regard; Prix Louis-Delluc first film 2007 (ex aequo); Cabourg festival Prix de la jeunesse[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/naissance-des-pieuvres/) • [2](https://www.lemonde.fr/vous/article/2010/10/23/naissance-des-pieuvres_1430350_3238.html) • [4](https://valdoise.terredecinema.fr/fr/films/1236/film-naissance-des-pieuvres/s1-1) |\n| César nominations | Three at the 2008 ceremony: two for Most Promising Actress and one for Best First Film[5](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/titles/4294/naissance-des-pieuvres) |\n| Runtime and setting | 85 minutes; filmed in August 2006 in Cergy, Val-d'Oise, including the municipal pool[1](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/naissance-des-pieuvres/) • [4](https://valdoise.terredecinema.fr/fr/films/1236/film-naissance-des-pieuvres/s1-1) |\n| Key crew | Cinematography Crystel Fournier; editing Julien Lacheray; music Para One (Jean-Baptiste de Laubier); production Les Productions Balthazar; French distribution Haut et Court[6](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/76601/en/index/rl/1/) |\n| Reception | AlloCiné press average 3.9/5 from 17 reviews; Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 81% from 48 reviews[7](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-114644/critiques/presse/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/water_lilies) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and approach\n\nThe story follows fifteen-year-old Marie (Pauline Acquart), who attends a synchronized swimming competition to support her friend Anne (Louise Blachère), a girl uncomfortable with her changing body, and falls under the charm of Floriane ([Adèle Haenel](https://www.edgepedia.org/adele-haenel)), the team's star, who carries a reputation as a girl who goes with boys[13](https://mulderville.net/fr/critiques/1631/naissance-des-pieuvres). To stay near Floriane, Marie agrees to provide an alibi for Floriane's meetings with her boyfriend François, whom Anne also desires[13](https://mulderville.net/fr/critiques/1631/naissance-des-pieuvres).\n\nThe film's method is as distinctive as its story. Parents and schools are absent, and boys appear only at the margins, leaving the three girls to evolve in the public but enclosed world of the swimming pool and its locker rooms[9](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2008/films/naissance-des-pieuvres) • [14](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1386/sfc.12.2.169_1). Dialogue is sparse; the drama is carried by looks, silences, and the physical proximity of bodies at the poolside[2](https://www.lemonde.fr/vous/article/2010/10/23/naissance-des-pieuvres_1430350_3238.html). Sciamma explained the title as a figure for first love: the first time you fall in love is also the rise of jealousy, and it feels like an octopus in the belly, with black ink that is desire but also its negative side[15](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26438941.2022.2151152).\n\n## Origin and production\n\nSciamma wrote the screenplay as her final-year project while studying screenwriting at the Paris film school La Fémis, and became convinced she had to direct it herself[9](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2008/films/naissance-des-pieuvres). According to an account of her studies, the jury that graded the script, led by the filmmaker Xavier Beauvois, encouraged her to develop it into a feature[10](https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/17835/1/PK%20thesis%20Full%20Final%20draft%204_2.pdf). Producers showed interest soon after her graduation, and shooting began seven months later, in August 2006, in the new town of Cergy northwest of Paris[4](https://valdoise.terredecinema.fr/fr/films/1236/film-naissance-des-pieuvres/s1-1). Sciamma has described an autobiographical starting point: as an adolescent she attended a synchronized swimming gala by chance and was strongly impressed by girls her own age who were already achieving concrete mastery, while she felt herself to be only a promise[11](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/101/96/24677/presse/naissance-des-pieuvres-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf).\n\nThe film was produced by Bénédicte Couvreur and Jérôme Dopffer for Les Productions Balthazar, with Canal+ and the Région Île-de-France among the backers[6](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/76601/en/index/rl/1/). It was the first collaboration between Sciamma and Adèle Haenel, who was then largely unknown[12](https://www.fondazioneprada.org/project/naissance-des-pieuvres/?lang=en).\n\n## Style and music\n\nThe film opens with a highly stylized sequence, a fluid tracking shot through the locker rooms of a suburban competition, in which improvised chatter and applause are repeatedly covered or cut short by Para One's electronic score[16](https://www.decadrages.ch/collection/celine-sciamma/jouer-ou-ne-pas-jouer-la-direction-dactrices-chez-celine-sciamma-entre-realisme-et-stylisation). Para One composed the original music, and has scored all of Sciamma's films since[10](https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/17835/1/PK%20thesis%20Full%20Final%20draft%204_2.pdf). Scholars have read the soundtrack as a vector of the girls' emotions that works through a depersonalized, non-diegetic register, giving form to feelings the characters themselves do not voice[17](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1546383/1/International%20Cinema%20and%20the%20Girl%20proofs.pdf). Crystel Fournier's photography adds intense color to settings that might otherwise read as bland[18](https://www.screendaily.com/water-lilies-naissance-des-pieuvres/4032674.article).\n\n## Reception\n\nAt Cannes the trade press judged it a competent and affecting entry in the coming-of-age genre, praising the strong performances of its young unknown cast and predicting good prospects with specialist distributors and festivals[18](https://www.screendaily.com/water-lilies-naissance-des-pieuvres/4032674.article). French critics were broadly favorable: AlloCiné's press average was 3.9 out of 5 across 17 reviews, with *Elle* noting Sciamma's filming of adolescence in its timelessness and *Le Monde* praising a treatment without sentimentality or judgment[7](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-114644/critiques/presse/). Viewer ratings on AlloCiné were lower, at 3.1 from about 4,280 ratings[19](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-114644/critiques/spectateurs/), and on Rotten Tomatoes the Tomatometer stood at 81% from 48 reviews against a 68% audience score[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/water_lilies).\n\nThe film was not a commercial success. It did not recoup an initial budget of €1.6 million, and its gross in the United States was $77.3 thousand[10](https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/17835/1/PK%20thesis%20Full%20Final%20draft%204_2.pdf) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/water_lilies). Its reputation has rested instead on critical and academic attention: it received three César nominations at the 2008 ceremony, two for Most Promising Actress and one for Best First Film[5](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/titles/4294/naissance-des-pieuvres), and scholarly work has treated it as a study of queer adolescent desire, of the gendered norms imposed on female athletes, and of the new-town geography of Cergy[20](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpcu.12596) • [15](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26438941.2022.2151152) • [21](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/173676/).\n\n## Place in Sciamma's career\n\n*Water Lilies* established themes Sciamma returned to in *[Tomboy](https://www.edgepedia.org/tomboy-2011-film)* (2011) and *Bande de filles* (2014), forming a coming-of-age trilogy that critics credit with establishing her reputation in French cinema[12](https://www.fondazioneprada.org/project/naissance-des-pieuvres/?lang=en) • [22](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/postmigratory-cultures-in-postcolonial-france/beyond-ethnicity-or-a-return-to-type-bande-de-fillesgirlhood-and-the-politics-of-blackness-in-contemporary-french-cinema/6257B6A980DC30D5FC12020A8F741B31). The shared signatures visible from this first film include a strong stylized use of color, a minimalist electronic soundtrack, and observational camerawork favoring sequence shots around young, naturalistic performers[22](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/postmigratory-cultures-in-postcolonial-france/beyond-ethnicity-or-a-return-to-type-bande-de-fillesgirlhood-and-the-politics-of-blackness-in-contemporary-french-cinema/6257B6A980DC30D5FC12020A8F741B31). In the United Kingdom the film was released on 14 March 2008, certified 15 by the BBFC for moderate sex references, brief non-sexualized nudity, and one use of strong language[23](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/naissance-des-pieuvres-water-lilies-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0znzc3ndg).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Naissance des pieuvres (Water Lilies), Festival de Cannes](https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/naissance-des-pieuvres/)\n2. [Naissance des pieuvres, Le Monde (23 October 2010)](https://www.lemonde.fr/vous/article/2010/10/23/naissance-des-pieuvres_1430350_3238.html)\n3. [Water Lilies, New Zealand International Film Festival 2008](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2008/archive/water-lilies/)\n4. [Fiche du film Naissance des pieuvres (2007), Val-d'Oise : Terre de Cinéma](https://valdoise.terredecinema.fr/fr/films/1236/film-naissance-des-pieuvres/s1-1)\n5. [Naissance des pieuvres (2007), NR Magazine](https://www.nrmagazine.com/cinema/titles/4294/naissance-des-pieuvres)\n6. [Naissance des pieuvres, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/76601/en/index/rl/1/)\n7. [Critiques presse pour le film Naissance des pieuvres, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-114644/critiques/presse/)\n8. [Water Lilies, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/water_lilies)\n9. [Naissance des pieuvres, International Film Festival Rotterdam 2008](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2008/films/naissance-des-pieuvres)\n10. [Interiority, Emotion and the Crystal-image in Naissance des pieuvres (2007), Maynooth University thesis](https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/17835/1/PK%20thesis%20Full%20Final%20draft%204_2.pdf)\n11. [Dossier de presse Naissance des pieuvres, UniFrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/101/96/24677/presse/naissance-des-pieuvres-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf)\n12. [Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres), Fondazione Prada](https://www.fondazioneprada.org/project/naissance-des-pieuvres/?lang=en)\n13. [Naissance des pieuvres (2007), Mulderville](https://mulderville.net/fr/critiques/1631/naissance-des-pieuvres)\n14. [Sophie Belot, Céline Sciamma's La Naissance des pieuvres (2007): Seduction and be-coming, Studies in French Cinema 12(2)](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1386/sfc.12.2.169_1)\n15. [The rules of the game: sports and the gendered body in Céline Sciamma's youth films, Studies in French Cinema](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/26438941.2022.2151152)\n16. [Jouer ou ne pas jouer : la direction d'actrices chez Céline Sciamma, Décadrages](https://www.decadrages.ch/collection/celine-sciamma/jouer-ou-ne-pas-jouer-la-direction-dactrices-chez-celine-sciamma-entre-realisme-et-stylisation)\n17. [Fiona Handyside, Emotion, Girlhood, and Music in Naissance des pieuvres, in International Cinema and the Girl](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1546383/1/International%20Cinema%20and%20the%20Girl%20proofs.pdf)\n18. [Jonathan Romney, Water Lilies (Naissance des Pieuvres) review, Screen (20 May 2007)](https://www.screendaily.com/water-lilies-naissance-des-pieuvres/4032674.article)\n19. [Critiques spectateurs du film Naissance des pieuvres, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-114644/critiques/spectateurs/)\n20. [M. Catherine Jonet, Desire and Queer Adolescence: Céline Sciamma's Naissance des Pieuvres, The Journal of Popular Culture 50(5)](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpcu.12596)\n21. [Ellie Smith, 'Des plafonds dans les yeux': representing the New Town in Naissance des pieuvres, French Screen Studies 23(2-3)](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/173676/)\n22. [Will Higbee, 'Beyond Ethnicity' or a Return to Type? Bande de filles/Girlhood and the Politics of Blackness in Contemporary French Cinema, Cambridge University Press](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/postmigratory-cultures-in-postcolonial-france/beyond-ethnicity-or-a-return-to-type-bande-de-fillesgirlhood-and-the-politics-of-blackness-in-contemporary-french-cinema/6257B6A980DC30D5FC12020A8F741B31)\n23. [Naissance Des Pieuvres - Water Lilies, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/naissance-des-pieuvres-water-lilies-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0znzc3ndg)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Coming-of-age films › Coming-of-age films released 2000 to 2009*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/water-lilies-2007-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/water-lilies-2007-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Water Lilies (2007 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/water-lilies-2007-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Water Lilies (2007 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/water-lilies-2007-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/water-lilies-2007-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/water-lilies-2007-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Water Lilies (2007 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/water-lilies-2007-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Water Lilies is Céline Sciamma's 2007 debut feature, a French drama about three teenage girls' first desires around a synchronized swimming team in Cergy; it premiered at Cannes Un Certain Regard and won the 2007 Prix Louis-Delluc for first film." }