January 13th, 2023 - 5:30 pm
SAINT OMER Opening at the Cinema Art Theater in Lewes
Opening January 13, the Rehoboth Bach Film Society’s Cinema Art Theater presents Saint Omer, a startling and unforgettable legal drama based on a real trial about a woman accused of a horrible crime.
Rama, a literature professor and novelist, travels from Paris to Saint-Omer to observe the trial of Laurence Coly and is inspired to write about the case. Coly is a student and Senegalese immigrant accused of leaving her 15-month-old daughter on a beach to be swept away by the tide in Berck. Rama, who is four-months pregnant and, like Coly, is in a mixed-race relationship is further compelled by the complex relationship with her own Senegalese immigrant mother. This personal connection to Coly draws her even closer. She plans to write a modern-day retelling of the Greek Medea myth about the case. As she learns more about Coly's life and the isolation Coly experienced from her family and society while living in France, Rama becomes increasingly anxious about her own life and pregnancy. [2022, France, 122 min, Rating: PG-13, in French with English subtitles]
Dwight Brown of DwightBrownInk.com writes, ““The eye-catching artistry and beguiling music should claim top billing.” Carla Hay of Culture Mix comments, “Saint Omer skillfully draws parallels between the gripping drama of a courtroom trial and how mothers are judged by society, when it comes to race, class, and privilege.”
Screening times are 5:30 pm on Fri (Jan 13), 3 pm on Wed (Jan 18) and 6:30 pm on Thu (Jan 19). Admission is $9 for members, $11.50 for general audiences and $5 for students. Purchase advance tickets at rehobothfilm.com or at the Cinema Art Theater box office in Lewes beginning 30 minutes prior to the screening.
