Once Upon My Mother is a joyful, heartwarming family saga celebrating faith, devotion, and the transformative power of maternal love.
Inspired by Roland Perez’s bestselling autobiography, the film follows Esther Perez (Leïla Bekhti), a spirited Moroccan-Jewish immigrant in 1963 Paris, who refuses to accept her newborn son’s clubfoot diagnosis. With fierce determination and boundless love, she embarks on a decades-long mission to help him not just walk—but soar.
Vibrantly shot by Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman, the film bursts with color, humor, and nostalgic French pop, including a cameo by Jewish music legend Sylvie Vartan. A box office sensation in France, Once Upon My Mother is a universal celebration of the extraordinary lengths parents go for their children.