César-Winner “Au Bain des Dames" Screened at Reid Hall

Reid Hall kicked off its annual film screening series in the Ginsberg-LeClerc Grande Salle on Wednesday, Sept. 23, with "Au Bain des Dames" ("If You Don't Like It, Look Away"), winner of Best Short Documentary at the 2026 César Awards.

The event brought together students, faculty, and alumni from Sciences Po Aix and the Columbia community in Paris. It marked the second installment of an ongoing cultural exchange between the two institutions that began last year when Sciences Po Aix hosted students from the Columbia Undergraduate Program.

The evening opened with remarks by Séverine Martin, director of Columbia Undergraduate Programs and Public Programs Manager at the Global Paris Center, and Sonia Schaub, Director of Development and Partnerships at Sciences Po Aix. They emphasized the importance of this transatlantic cultural partnership and noted the significance of hosting it at Reid Hall, a historic hub for women artists.

Next, Sciences Po Aix alumna Alix Plançon, now with Animafac, talked about the new artistic communities flourishing across the Sciences Po network. She urged students in attendance not to shy away from careers in the arts, pointing to the film’s director, Margaux Fournier, and producer, Laureen Bolton—both Sciences Po alumnae—as proof.

The film follows Joëlle and her retired friends on their daily trip to the Bain des Dames beach in Marseille. As they sunbathe, the women bare all in every sense, discussing dating, sex and cosmetic surgery with unflinching candor, and teasing each other throughout like, as one puts it,  "wrinkled teenagers."

Their hilarious, intimate, and somber conversations are accompanied by striking images of leathery skin set against the bright colors of the Mediterranean—its glistening waves a kind of fountain of youth. One critic called the documentary "an ode to life, to the sun, to femininity, and above all, to la joie de vivre."

After the screening, Fournier and Bolton answered questions from the audience. Students were eager to know how they discovered such funny, larger-than-life characters and how much of the film was scripted. The two recounted how quickly the film came together after Fournier met Joëlle by chance on the beach, and explained how they set up certain scenes to "augment reality" and stretch the traditional limits of the genre.

Fournier also shared her desire to provide a rare, joyful perspective of her native Marseille, how her time at Sciences Po prepared her for directing, and the heavy responsibility she felt toward her subjects after the film's release.

Screenings of "Au Bain des Dames" ("If You Don't Like It, Look Away") are ongoing. The film is also available to stream on FranceTV and other platforms.