Saint Omer

This screening took place on Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 11:30 amYukon Theatre

In this extraordinary narrative debut by acclaimed documentarian Alice Diop, a young novelist is forced to confront her personal traumas as she observes the trial of a woman accused of infanticide.

This progressively claustrophobic courtroom drama is told through the stoic point of view of a young novelist, pregnant herself and increasingly uneasy. Her own family history, doubts, and fears about motherhood are steadily dislodged as the life story of the accused woman is gradually revealed. From a stern upbringing in Senegal to gradual isolation from family and society on her arrival in Europe, the accused’s experiences expose the traumas of racism and emotional manipulation that can remain unspoken while insidiously and irrevocably corroding a person’s well-being.

In French with English subtitles.

Content advisory:

racism; themes of violence, anxiety, and mental distress