Virginia Film Festival

Grand Jury Prize Winner, 2022 Venice Film Festival

The groundbreaking narrative debut from acclaimed documentarian Alice Diop (We) is powerful and subtly devastating courtroom drama. Traveling to the northern French town of Saint Omer to research her new book, Rama observes the trial of a Senegalese woman accused of infanticide; Laurence has confessed to the crime but maintains her innocence, arguing that she was under the influence of powerful sorcerous magic at the time. The disturbing facts of the case, trigger in Rama a cascading flood of memories and revelations about her immigrant mother, anxieties about her impending motherhood, and the painful effects of racism and emotional manipulation on Black women in French society.
Introduction by Alison Levine (UVA)

“A stunning film which stirringly builds a confessional out of the stones in the hands of merciless executioners.”-Little White Lies, Rafaela Sales Ross

“An enthralling narrative debut.” –The Hollywood Reporter, Lovia Gyarkye