The short documentary capsule bring us a story of one peculiar word which becomes a subject of inner family identity. The film consists of three parts: learning the word, saying the word, and knowing the story surrounding the word. The imagery is composed of close-ups on family members learning, saying, or recounting the word. We follow the movement of muscle contractions and bone structure on their faces during pronunciation. There is both pleasure and, at times, difficulty in pronouncing each syllable. The film prompts us to ponder the role of the past, memory and language transmission.
How does a word pass from one generation to another, and what does it reveal about a family's history? There's also contemplation on how words come into existence. In the creation of a word, what comes first: the sound, the meaning, or something else?
---

Synopsis (short)
When he was a child, Paul invented two long words, kind of unpronounceable magical formulas. One fell into oblivion, but the other has an unexpected life and spans generations. There is only one rule: the word cannot be written.

Synopsis (long)
A little girl is trying to repeat a word that her mother suggests teaching her. It's a very long word (19 syllables) and quite mysterious, almost resembling a magical incantation. In three short sequences, Paul, who invented it when he was little, tells us the story of this word, its connection to melody, and the only rule that accompanies it: it can only be passed on orally and never written down. In the meantime, the number of speakers of this strange word has considerably increased; it has become a significant family identity. Everyone pronounces the word one by one, over and over again, before concluding with a collective chorus.

Original Title: Le Mot
Genre: documentary
Duration: 6 minutes
Production Year: 2024
Production Countries: France, Belgium
Projection Format: DCP 2K Flat; mp4
Color: Color
Language: French
Subtitles: English
Production Status: Post-production - sound mixing
Director: Mladen Bundalo
Screenplay: Mladen Bundalo & Paul Fournier
Director of Photography: Mladen Bundalo
Editing: Mladen Bundalo
Music: [None]
Sound: Mladen Bundalo
Mixing: [To be defined]
Producer: Mladen Bundalo
Film Participants: Lise Bourgeois, Marta Bundalo, Louise Bundalo, Agathe Fournier, Etienne Fournier, Mathilde Fournier, Lucie Fournier, Lisadie Fournier, Paul Fournier