Saint Omer

Spoken: French. Subtitles: Dutch

Rama, a young writer, attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the court in Saint-Omer. Laurence Coly is in fact accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter and then abandoning the baby on a beach in northern France. But in the course of the trial, the words of the accused and the statements of the witnesses shake Rama's certainties and cast doubt on our own judgment.

Director Alice Diops uses the courtroom setting to showcase the complexity of societal prejudice and oppression, exploring the far-reaching impact of otherness, shame and demonisation in an original and hypnotic courtroom film.