On a road trip through French Canada, three generations of women--all named Madeleine--get to know one another as a host of familial and societal themes unfold, full of poetry and hope. The grandmother, Mado, meets the daughter whom she had given up for adoption years earlier, unleashing a passionate recollection of her own youth and a long-lost love. The daughter, Marie-Madeleine, is a thoroughly modern and strong-minded woman; the encounter with her mother allows her to face unacknowledged fears and embrace new possibilities. Madeleine, the seventeen-year-old granddaughter in love for the first time, finds strength and comfort in thinking about her German father, whom she has never met but whose voice she imagines. Dionne’s first feature film, The Three Madeleines premiered at the prestigious Directors’ Fortnight at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.