Saint Omer (film) explained

Saint Omer
Director:Alice Diop
Cinematography:Claire Mathon
Editing:Amrita David
Music:Thibault Deboaisne
Studio:Srab Films
Distributor:Les Films du losange
Runtime:122 minutes
Country:France
Language:French
Gross:$822,891[1]

Saint Omer is a 2022 French legal drama film written and directed by Alice Diop, and starring Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanda. It is Diop's first narrative feature. Her other films have been documentaries.

Rama (Kagame) is a pregnant young novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly (Malanda), a Senegalese woman accused of murdering her 15-month-old child by leaving her on a beach to be swept away. Rama imagines writing about the event as a literary retelling of the Greek tragedy Medea.

The film is based on the French court case of Fabienne Kabou, who was convicted in 2016 of murdering her infant by drowning. Diop attended Kabou's trial.

The film premiered in-competition at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on 7 September 2022,[2] where it won the Silver Lion Grand Jury prize, along with the Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future award.[3] [4] Additional screenings were held at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2022 New York Film Festival before theatrical release in France on 23 November 2022.[5] [6] The film was selected as the French entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards,[7] and made the December shortlist.[8] The film received the Grand Prix for Best Film at Film Fest Gent in 2022.

Plot

Rama, a literature professor and novelist, travels from Paris to Saint-Omer to observe the trial of Laurence Coly and write about the case. Coly is a graduate student and Senegalese immigrant who is charged in the murder of her 15-month-old daughter, having left her on a beach to be drowned by the tide in Berck.

Rama is four-months pregnant herself and, like Coly, is in a mixed-race relationship. She also has a complex relationship with her own Senegalese immigrant mother, and feels a personal connection to Coly. She plans to write a modern day retelling of the Greek Medea myth in her treatment of the case. As she learns more about Coly's life and the isolation Coly suffered from her family and society while studying and living in France, Rama becomes increasingly anxious about her own life and her pregnancy.

The film cuts before the outcome of the trial is announced. It shows Rama's return to Paris, and her spending time with her mother.

Cast

Production

Saint Omer is based on the 2016 court case of Fabienne Kabou, who was convicted of killing her daughter in 2013, in the same way as Coly. Diop followed the case and immediately recognized Kabou's features from news footage as being Senegalese, which is Diop's family heritage. Diop attended the trial and became "obsessed" with the case, noting that most of the attendees and participants at the trial were also women. Diop elaborated that she "wanted to find answers to my own intimate questions that I had asked myself about my relationship with my own mother and being a mother myself. And I decided that since I shared those same emotions with so many women, if we were all so obsessed with that event, it meant there was something universal in the story, which had to do with motherhood. So I decided to make a film about it."[9] Like Rama, Diop was pregnant with her first child while attending the trial.[10] Diop said that she attended the trial out of "intuition" and did not decide to make a film about it until after the trial ended. Having only made documentary films, Diop made her narrative feature film debut because cameras were not allowed in the courtroom and she "wanted to recreate my experience of listening to another woman's story while interrogating myself, facing my own difficult truths."[11]

Court-transcripts were partially used to write the screenplay. While writing the script, Diop first met actresses Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanda. She was immediately impressed with both women and thought of them while still writing the script. She later contacted both Kagame and Malanda to audition. Diop has said she has been influenced by the work of Marguerite Duras. In the film, the character Rama is seen lecturing about Duras.[9]

Filming took six weeks. Both the cast and crew were mostly female, which "wasn't fully deliberate, nor was it wholly accidental" according to Diop.[11] Filming took place between May and July 2021 in the Île-de-France and Hauts-de-France regions, including in the commune of Saint-Omer.[12] [13] Guslagie Malanda, who played the role based on Kabou, found being in character so taxing that she had nightmares for a year. Diop fainted on set when the shooting wrapped.[14] [15]

Release

Saint Omer was initially considered for the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[16] It premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on 7 September 2022,[2] where it won the Grand Jury Prize along with the Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future award.[3]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 131 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads, "A gut-punching contemplation of a woman's immigrant experience, Saint Omer puts a mother on the stand and the audience in the jury box to find humanity in the inhumane."[17] According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 91 out of 100 based on 36 critics, the film received "universal acclaim".[18]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called it "Intellectually galvanizing and emotionally harrowing, the story explores motherhood, race and postcolonial France with control, lucidity and compassion."[19]

In September 2022 it was selected as France's official selection for Best International Film at the 95th Academy Awards.[20]

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)Result
Venice Film Festival10 September 2022Golden LionAlice Diop[21]
Grand Jury Prize
Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film
Casa Wabi – Mantarraya Award[22]
Cinema & Arts Award - Golden Musa
Edipo Re Award
London Film Festival16 October 2022Best FilmSaint Omer[23]
24 October 2022 Best Film [24]
21 October 2022 Gold Hugo [25]
Silver Hugo for Best ScreenplayAlice Diop, Amrita David, Zoé Galeron, and Marie NDiaye[26]
Seville European Film Festival12 November 2022Golden GiraldilloSaint Omer[27]
Best Screenplay Alice Diop, Amrita David, Marie Ndiaye
Gotham Independent Film Awards28 November 2022Best International FeatureSaint Omer [28]
Louis Delluc Prize30 November 2022Best Film of the Year[29]
National Board of Review8 December 2022Top Five Foreign Language Films[30]
European Film Awards10 December 2022Best DirectorAlice Diop[31]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association11 December 2022Best Foreign Language FilmSaint Omer[32]
Chicago Film Critics Association14 December 2022Best Foreign Language Film[33]
Milos Stehlik Breakthrough Filmmaker AwardAlice Diop
Florida Film Critics Circle22 December 2022Best Foreign Language FilmSaint Omer[34]
Alliance of Women Film Journalists5 January 2023Best Non-English Language Film [35]
Lumières Awards16 January 2022Best Film[36]
Best Female RevelationGuslagie Malanda
Best ScreenplayAlice Diop, Marie NDiaye and Amrita David
Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Palm Springs International Film Festival16 January 2023Best International Feature FilmSaint Omer[37]
Seattle Film Critics Society17 January 2023Best Film Not in the English Language[38]
Online Film Critics Society23 January 2023Best Debut Feature[39]
London Film Critics' Circle5 February 2023Film of the Year[40]
Foreign Language Film of the Year
Supporting Actress of the YearGuslagie Malanda
Black Reel Awards6 February 2023Outstanding Foreign-Language FilmSaint Omer[41]
Directors Guild of America Awards18 February 2023Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature FilmAlice Diop[42]
César Awards24 February 2023Most Promising ActressGuslagie Malanda[43]
Best Original ScreenplayAlice Diop, Amrita David, Marie NDiaye
Best First Feature FilmToufik Ayadi, Christophe Barral, Alice Diop
Best CinematographyClaire Mathon
Independent Spirit Awards4 March 2023Best International FilmSaint Omer[44]
Toronto Film Critics Association6 March 2023Best Foreign Language Film[45]
Paris Film Critics Association5 February 2023Best PictureAlice Diop[46]
Best ActressGuslagie Malanda
Best Young ActressGuslagie Malanda
Best Young ActressKayjie Kagame
Best Original ScreenplayAmrita David, Alice Diop & Marie NDiaye

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. 15376894. Saint Omer (2022). 2 April 2023.
  2. Web site: Saint Omer. La Biennale di Venezia. 30 June 2022 . 29 August 2022.
  3. Web site: Venice Film Festival Award Winners 2022. Indiewire. 10 September 2022 . 10 September 2022.
  4. Web site: Alice Diop's Venice Prize-Winner 'Saint Omer' Acquired By Neon's Boutique Label Super. Variety. 16 September 2022. Pat Saperstein. 16 September 2022.
  5. Web site: Saint Omer . Picard . Andréa . tiff.net . 24 August 2022.
  6. Web site: Saint Omer . cineuropa.org. . 24 August 2022.
  7. Web site: Oscars: France Selects Alice Diop's 'Saint Omer' For Best International Film Race . Deadline.com . Goodfellow . Melanie . 23 September 2022 . 23 September 2022.
  8. Web site: Giardina . Carolyn . 21 December 2022 . Shortlists for 95th Academy Awards Unveiled . The Hollywood Reporter.
  9. Web site: With Venice Winner Saint Omer, Director Alice Diop Puts Motherhood Under the Microscope . Rapold . Nicolas . W Magazine . 12 September 2022 . 20 September 2022.
  10. Web site: 'Saint Omer': Venice Review . Ide . Wendy . Screen Daily . 7 September 2022 . 20 September 2022.
  11. News: Venice Prizewinner Alice Diop on the Haunting Nature of 'Saint Omer' . Croll . Ben . Variety . 10 September 2022 . 23 September 2022.
  12. André-Sarreau. Léa. 12 May 2021. En tournage: "Saint-Omer" d'Alice Diop. Trois Couleurs. fr. 8 November 2022.
  13. Web site: De nombreux figurants recherchés pour le tournage d'un film, à Saint-Omer. Brassart. Florian. 4 July 2021. Actu.fr. fr. 8 November 2022.
  14. News: For the Documentarian Alice Diop, Only Fiction Could Do Justice to a Tragedy. Zuckerman. Esther. 16 January 2023. The New York Times. 27 February 2023. 27 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230227014133/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/16/movies/alice-diop-saint-omer.html. live.
  15. News: Inside the tale of a real-life child killer so intense it made its director faint. Zemler. Emily. 12 January 2023. Los Angeles Times. 28 February 2023. 28 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230228011313/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-01-12/saint-omer-alice-diop-guslangie-malanda-true-story. live.
  16. Web site: Why Wasn't Alice Diop's 'Saint Omer' at Cannes? . Ruimy . Jordan . World of Reel . 19 September 2022 . 19 September 2022.
  17. Saint Omer. m. saint_omer. 2 April 2023.
  18. saint-omer. movie. Saint Omer Reviews. 2 April 2023.
  19. News: In Toronto, Films by Women About Women, but That's Where the Similarities End . Dargis . Manohla . New York Times . 16 September 2022 . 22 September 2022.
  20. Web site: Oscar 2023 du long métrage international: la liste des films français présélectionnés . CNC . 15 September 2022.
  21. Web site: Venice Film Festival Winners: Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell Take Top Acting Prizes – Updating Live . Deadline Hollywood . 10 September 2022 . 10 September 2022.
  22. Web site: COLLATERAL AWARDS OF THE 79TH VENICE FILM FESTIVAL. labiennale.org. 10 September 2022. 10 September 2022.
  23. Web site: Full programme announced for 66th BFI London Film Festival. BFI. 17 September 2022.
  24. Web site: Film Fest Ghent: Alice Diop's 'Saint Omer' and Michael Koch's 'Drii Winter' take top honours. The Brussels Times. 24 October 2022. 28 October 2022.
  25. Web site: 'No Bears', 'Saint Omer' among Chicago fest international selections (exclusive). Screen Daily. Jeremy. Kay. 16 September 2022. 2 October 2022.
  26. Web site: 58th Chicago International Film Festival Reveals Award Winners. Rober Ebert.com. 21 October 2022. 28 October 2022.
  27. Web site: 'Saint Omer,' 'Close' 'Will-o'-the-Wisp' Win Big at Seville. Variety. 13 November 2022. Callum. McLennan.
  28. Web site: 'Tár' Leads Gotham Awards Nominations: Full List. Variety. Ethan. Shanfield. 25 October 2022. 25 October 2022.
  29. Web site: Le Prix Delluc récompense ex aequo les films "Saint Omer" d'Alice Diop et "Pacifiction" d'Albert Serra. rtbf.be. 30 November 2022.
  30. Web site: 2022 National Board of Review Winners: 'Top Gun: Maverick' Takes Top Honor. IndieWire. Marcus. Jones. December 8, 2022. December 8, 2022.
  31. Web site: Goodfellow . Melanie . 8 November 2022 . 'Close', 'Holy Spider' & 'Triangle Of Sadness' Lead European Film Awards Nominations . 8 November 2022 . Deadline . en-US.
  32. Web site: 'Tár' and 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' Named Best Picture by L.A. Film Critics. The Hollywood Reporter. Carly. Thomas. December 11, 2022. December 11, 2022.
  33. Web site: Everything Everywhere All at Once Leads Chicago Film Critics Nominations. Rogerebert.com. Brian. Tallerico. December 12, 2022. December 12, 2022.
  34. Web site: Neglia . Matt . 2022-12-14 . The 2022 Florida Film Critics Circle (FFCC) Nominations . 2022-12-15 . Next Best Picture . en-US.
  35. Web site: 2022 EDA AWARDS NOMINEES . December 23, 2022 . Alliance of Women Film Journalists.
  36. Web site: Les Prix Lumières 2023 dévoilent leurs nominations. L'Eclaireur. Lisa. Muratore. 16 December 2022. 20 December 2022. fr.
  37. Web site: ‘Saint Omer’ Takes Top Honors At 34th Palm Springs Film Festival. Deadline. Bruce. Haring. January 15, 2023. 13 October 2023.
  38. Web site: 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Leads the 2022 Seattle Film Critics Society Nominations. Seattle Film Critics Society. January 9, 2023. January 10, 2023.
  39. Web site: The 2022 Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) Winners . Matt . Neglia . Next Best Picture . January 23, 2023 . January 23, 2023.
  40. Web site: The Banshees of Inisherin leads pack as London film critics announce nominations . Andrew . Pulver . . 21 December 2022 . 22 December 2022.
    Web site: ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ ‘Tár’ Lead London Critics’ Circle Awards . Naman . Ramachandran . . February 5, 2023 . October 26, 2023 . October 26, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231026144211/https://variety.com/2023/film/awards/the-banshees-of-inisherin-tar-london-critics-circle-awards-2023-winners-1235513214/ . live.
    Web site: ‘Tár’ Named Film of the Year at London Critics’ Circle Film Awards . Alex . Ritman . . February 5, 2023 . October 26, 2023 . October 26, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231026144255/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/london-critics-circle-film-awards-2023-winners-1235317898/ . live.
  41. Web site: 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,' 'The Woman King' lead 2023 Black Reel Awards nominations. Awards Watch. Erik. Anderson. December 15, 2022. December 15, 2022.
  42. Web site: Pedersen . Erik . DGA Awards Film Nominations: Steven Spielberg, Martin McDonagh, Todd Field, Joseph Kosinski & The Daniels Vying for Top Prize . Deadline . January 11, 2023 . January 11, 2023.
  43. Web site: César Nominations: Louis Garrel's 'The Innocent' Takes Surprise Lead, Followed By 'Night Of The 12th' – Full List. Deadline. Melanie. Goodfellow. 25 January 2023. 25 January 2023.
  44. Web site: 2023 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced (Updating Live). IndieWire. Ryan. Lattanzio. November 22, 2022. November 22, 2022.
  45. Web site: Aftersun Leads 26th Annual TFCA Awards Winners. Toronto Film Critics Association. January 8, 2023. January 8, 2023.
  46. Web site: Nominations 2023 Paris Film Critics Association . 10 February 2023 . Paris Film Critics Association.

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