Young novelist and scholar Rama (Kayije Kagame) attends the trial of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanga), a young Senegalese immigrant woman and philosophy student, accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter Lili by abandoning her on a beach in the northern French town of Saint Omer. Rama attends the trial seeking inspiration for her new book on maternal love – a modern vision of the Greek tragedy of Medea. As testimony of Coly’s life unfolds, the story gradually shifts towards Rama’s own story and identity, that also of a woman of Senegalese origin in France. Inspired by a real trial that Diop attended, this courtroom drama, her first narrative feature after numerous documentaries, touches on the troubles of motherhood, mother-daughter bond, the division between Western and African culture, racism and prejudices towards Black women in French society.

There will be Open Captioned screenings at 15.00 on Sunday 5th and 20.45 on Wednesday 8th.

IFI French Film Club: Tickets for the 20.40 screening on Tuesday 7th will cost €10.00 for IFI and Alliance Française members.

Notes by Marie-Pierre Richard