19-25 January
2026
French director Alice Diop's fiction film debut is a social realist court drama based on a true story, starring Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanda. The court drama is based on a trial in which Diop herself participated.
Pregnant young novelist Rama attends a trial against a Senegalese woman. The woman is accused of murdering her 15-month-old baby by leaving her on a beach to be swept away by the tide. Rama wants to use the tragic event to write a modern adaptation of the ancient myth of Medea, but things do not go as expected.
The film is based on the 2016 French trial of Fabienne Kabou, who was convicted of the same crime. Director Alice Diop attended Kabou's trial. Through a burning and insightful look at race and class issues, the film seeks a settlement with the most important contemporary issues in today's France. The film had its world premiere in competition at the 79th Venice International Film Festival 2022, where it won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Award along with the Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future Award. The film was selected as the French entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards.
This film was chosen by film critic and journalist Ida Madsen Hestman.
Alice Diop (b. 1979) was born in Aulnay-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Saint Omer is Alice Diop's first feature film after making complex sociopolitical documentaries for nearly 15 years. As the director of France’s official Oscar submission, she’s the first Black woman to represent her country in its quest for that award.
2021 We
2016 La permanence
2011 La mort de Danton
Kl 09:00
Hålogaland Teater
Kl 14:15
Hålogaland Teater
Kl 16:30
Hålogaland Teater
| Programme: | Critic's Week |
| Director: | Alice Diop |
| Country: | France |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Run time: | 2h 2m |
| Screenplay: | Alice Diop, Marie N'Diaye |
| Cast: | Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanga, Aurélia Petit |
| Dialogue: | French |
| Source: | Fidalgo |