Saint Omer

Acclaimed documentarian Alice Diop turns to narrative fiction with this 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 Laurence Coly, 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, uncovered piece by piece, trigger in Rama a cascading flood of memories about her own childhood and mother. Nuanced and patient, this profound character study is also a poignant examination of cultural memory, inherited trauma, and unspoken violence.

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