Fanny Texier Tells Her Younger Sister’s Coming-of-Age Story in ‘Unattached’

Fanny Texier’s new short documentary, “Unattached,” stars her younger sister, Celia Texier, as she makes the decision to cut off her hair as a way to reclaim her identity.

“When I was little I really thought my long hair made me beautiful,” Celia Texier says in the French-language short doc, which is accompanied by English subtitles. “I don’t know how to define my identity.”

Living in the Parisian suburb of Vitry-sur-Seine, Celia realizes she can use her hair and her physical appearance as a creative tool through which to express her ever-changing identity. She decides that her long hair represents her younger self more than her current self, and shaves it off as an act of rebellion.

Fanny Texier’s goal with “Unattached” was to capture an empowering moment in her younger sister’s life and mark it as sacred. Having gone through a powerful hair transformation herself, years before Celia, Fanny also felt a personal need to capture how an outer metamorphosis can spark an inner one.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Texier is a documentary filmmaker and video journalist who specializes in cinematic documentaries and character-driven stories. Her videos have been featured on VICE, The New York Post, The New Yorker, BET, BBC, Al Jazeera, and Netflix. “Unattached” won her a gold award for best female director and best documentary short at the Independent Shorts Awards. She also won best documentary short at the Best Shorts Festival.

Fanny hopes that the doc will speak to a new generation of young women who are challenging gender norms and being unapologetic about the choices they make with their physical appearance.

“It’s a feminist statement that aims to return power to women as agents of their own self-expression,” Texier said.

You can watch Fanny Texier’s full short film, Unattached, above or on Vimeo.

Main Image: Celia Texier in “Unattached,” courtesy of Fanny Texier.