Saint Omer
by Alice Diop
Silver Lion at Venice International Film Festival · French Premiere
In Competition 2022
Official synopsis
Rama, a young novelist, attends the trial of Laurence Coly at the crown court of Saint-Omer. The latter is accused of having killed her fifteen-month-old daughter, abandoning her at the rising tide on a beach in Northern France. But during the trial, the speech of the accused and the testimonies shake Rama's certainties and question our judgment.
In partnership with
The programmer’s eye
In “Saint Omer”, the confidence shown by the various characters in front of their audiences is matched only by the mastery of Alice Diop’s staging. The director tackles this legal case head-on, while reinforcing the evocative power of the accused's words through the novelist who listens to her. The story, which is particularly articulated, extracts the film from the penal sphere, and shifts the confrontation to the realm of beliefs. The changes of axes that punctuate our listening and those of the characters participate in the same movement: the birth of a maternal community, united by many other things than just words.
Victor Courgeon
Biography and Filmography
Alice Diop is a French screenwriter and director who was born in 1979. After studying History and Visual Sociology at the Sorbonne, she became a documentary filmmaker. Several of her short and medium-length films have been selected and awarded at festivals, such as “Les Sénégalaises et la Sénégauloise” (2007), “La Mort de Danton” (2011), but also “Towards Tenderness” (2016), which was awarded the César for Best Short Film in 2017. Her documentary feature “We” (2022) won the Best Documentary Award at the Berlinale and premiered at the FIFIB in 2021. “Saint Omer”, which won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival 2022, is her first fiction feature film.
2022 : SAINT OMER - Alice Diop - Director and Screenwriter
2020 : WE - Alice Diop - Director and Screenwriter
2016 : LA PERMANENCE - Alice Diop - Director and Screenwriter
2016 : VERS LA TENDRESSE (SHORT) - Alice Diop - Director and Screenwriter
2011 : LA MORT DE DANTON - Alice Diop - Director
2007 : LES SÉNÉGALAISES ET LA SÉNÉGAULOISE (SHORT) - Alice Diop - Director
2006 : CLICHY POUR L’EXEMPLE (SHORT) - Alice Diop - Director
2005 : LA TOUR DU MONDE (SHORT) - Alice Diop - Director
Alice Diop, Amrita David, Marie NDiaye
Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville
SRAB Films, Arte France Cinéma, Pictanovo Hauts-de-France
Les Films du Losange
Wild Bunch International
by Alice Diop
Alice Diop is a French screenwriter and director who was born in 1979. After studying History and Visual Sociology at the Sorbonne, she became a documentary filmmaker. Several of her short and medium-length films have been selected and awarded at festivals, such as “Les Sénégalaises et la Sénégauloise” (2007), “La Mort de Danton” (2011), but also “Towards Tenderness” (2016), which was awarded the César for Best Short Film in 2017. Her documentary feature “We” (2022) won the Best Documentary Award at the Berlinale and premiered at the FIFIB in 2021. “Saint Omer”, which won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival 2022, is her first fiction feature film.
2022 : SAINT OMER - Alice Diop - Director and Screenwriter
2020 : WE - Alice Diop - Director and Screenwriter
2016 : LA PERMANENCE - Alice Diop - Director and Screenwriter
2016 : VERS LA TENDRESSE (SHORT) - Alice Diop - Director and Screenwriter
2011 : LA MORT DE DANTON - Alice Diop - Director
2007 : LES SÉNÉGALAISES ET LA SÉNÉGAULOISE (SHORT) - Alice Diop - Director
2006 : CLICHY POUR L’EXEMPLE (SHORT) - Alice Diop - Director
2005 : LA TOUR DU MONDE (SHORT) - Alice Diop - Director