Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer” Snags Top Honor At Palm Springs Film Festival

Festivals

Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer” Snags Top Honor At Palm Springs Film Festival

Alice Diop’s feature debut continues to rack up accolades. “Saint Omer” has been voted Best Picture at the 34th edition of Palm Springs International Film Festival, Deadline reports. 

An exploration of motherhood, “Saint Omer” is inspired by a true story and centers on  a novelist who attends the trial of a young woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter.

The film was chosen due to its ability “to expertly interrogate issues of society, culture, race, and gender,” the festival release detailed. “Alice Diop, as screenwriter and director, delivers a film that explores different dynamics of Black women in contemporary France, drawing empathetic lead performances from Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanga (whose characters never interact, save for one momentous glance). By harnessing the skills of her technical team, Diop turns Saint Omer into a shrewd, cogent, ambitious, and overwhelming film which teases a metafictional awareness while remaining clear-eyed and unsentimental.”

“Saint Omer” premiered at Venice last year and took home the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize and the Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future Award for Best Debut Feature. It has been named as France’s pick in the International Feature Oscar race.

Head over to Deadline to check out the rest of the winners out of Palm Springs. The Best Documentary Award went to Nisha Pahuja’s “To Kill a Tiger,” a portrait of a family trying to find justice in the wake of a sexual assault. The fest kicked off January 5 and concludes today, January 16.