A father drives his daughter to the station. They pass a car pulling a trailer, which reminds the daughter of childhood vacations spent with her father, mother and… godfather. Memories resurface. The man everyone called Godfather, who has since died… Who was he really? Why did he take up so much space in the family? In the car, father and daughter laugh about their lack of physical resemblance. How about they take a DNA test to be sure once and for all? Nobody would have to know…

Once Upon A Father is a first-person documentary, an investigation by Leslie Menahem, combining a family secret and a DNA test, folk songs and a shaman, a love triangle and the belief that our identity is always under question, and that this is not necessarily sad.

Leslie Menahem www.lesliemenahem.com writes and produces for the radio, including drama for France Culture and France Inter. Her credits include Rue, ou la promenade du muguet, starring Denis Lavant. Leslie has also directed theatre and music, notably Scène pour un roi fou at La Philharmonie de Paris. On television, she writes for Karambolage on Arte, and is developing a series Motel, which won SACD France Europe Série funding. She is developing a feature film, Les autonautes de la cosmoroute with Ikki Films.