LA MIF
(Mif is the French slang word for family) is set in a residential care home
in Geneva, where a group of teenage girls from difficult backgrounds live
as a community with social workers. Sharing joy and pain, the forced
“family” experience creates unexpected tensions and intimacies. When an
incident arises, the fall-out reveals the weaknesses of the outdated
contemporary social care system.
The film was developed over a period of two years by Fred Baillif, a former
social worker, with the collaboration of non-professional actors made up of
residents and staff of a children’s home. The ensemble cast includes
Claudia Grob, Anaïs Uldry, Kassia Da Costa, Joyce Esther Ndayisenga,
Charlie Areddy, Amélie Tonsi, Amandine Golay and Sara Tulu, who deliver
moving and dynamic performances.
Exploring its characters’ stories individually and collectively, LA MIF is an empathetic and emotional examination of the
juvenile care system, ploughing the line between documentary and fiction.
