Saint Omer

Rama, a young writer from Paris, follows the trial in the small town of Saint Omer of Laurence Coly, who has Senegalese roots like her and is about the same age. The philosophy student is accused of murdering her young daughter. Although she admits to abandoning the baby to the sea on the beach, she provides no motive. Instead, she evokes magic and pleads not guilty. Rama's plan to use this story for her book about the myth of Medea unravels during the proceedings because she is overwhelmed by her own ghosts. Alice Diop's first feature film is based on a real case and uses texts from the court transcripts. It also references Marguerite Duras, Maria Callas and Nina Simone. This intense courtroom drama is primarily interested in the context of the crime and paints a complex, ambiguous picture, in which family trauma, racism and the struggle with motherhood play a role. (bik)