Plot Summary

Set in the autumn of 1970, La Faute à Fidel! follows the life of nine-year-old Anna (Nina Kervel-Bey), who lives a comfortable bourgeois life in Paris with her journalist mother (Julie Depardieu), her lawyer father (Stefano Accorsi), her younger brother (Benjamin Feuillet), and their Cuban nanny who blames Castro for her personal losses.

Anna’s peaceful world begins to shift when political tensions within her family intensify. Her uncle, who has been actively fighting against the fascist regime of Spain under Franco, is killed. His wife and child seek refuge with Anna’s family, bringing the harsh realities of political struggle directly into their home.

Struck by guilt and ideological awakening, Anna’s parents embark on a transformative journey to Chile, returning as passionate political activists. Their once stable and affluent lifestyle is replaced by a modest apartment and a constant influx of intellectuals and revolutionaries.

As her parents immerse themselves in political causes—her mother writing about women’s rights and her father banning even Mickey Mouse as a symbol of capitalist influence—Anna struggles to understand the sudden upheaval of her childhood. Through her innocent perspective, the film delicately explores the intersection of family, politics, and identity during a time of social change.