Elle s’appelle Sabine: chiasmus and care

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article proposes a chiastic reading of Elle s’appelle Sabine, examining how director Sandrine Bonnaire folds time. She represents her sister, the subject of the film, in the present and past, but also offers points of comparison between herself and her sibling. The film has a doubled set of ethical challenges: documentary ethics and ethics of care implicate Bonnaire both as filmmaker and as sister. In turn, Sandrine and Sabine together direct those ethical challenges towards the viewer and the state.