Les gants blancs

At 106 years of age, Manoel de Oliveira is the oldest active filmmaker in the world. With a filmography that goes back to 1942, he is the ideal historic reference point for a young filmmaker trying to discover herself. If you then also have a mother who was his editor for 20 years, you can get very close to the great master and his body of work. Louise Traon is lucky enough to be that filmmaker. She travels with her mother to Portugal, where the finishing touches are being put to O Estranho Caso de Angélica (2010).
The White Gloves is a layered cinematographic essay on making film. Practice and theory are juxtaposed in this glimpse into the kitchen of the Portuguese director. Traon films the conversations with her mother and the slow handiwork in the editing room, reflects on the films of De Oliviera and tries to formulate what film means to her. De Oliveira occasionally shuffles into view, bringing the past to life with poetically expressed memories.