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Hadewijch

Director: Bruno Dumont

Writer: Bruno Dumont

Cast: Julie Sokolowski, Yassine Salihine, David Dewaele, Karl Sarafidis

Country: France

Synopsis: Céline is not only a theology student. She believes. Her single-minded devotion arouses the concern and suspicion of her Mother Superior, who decides to expel the intense young woman, sending her out into the world to discover her true self. Céline is young and impressionable, and her sacrifices are extreme. Her family is haute bourgeois – her father is a minister in the government – and their lifestyle is lavish and refined. But Céline is eager to explore her surroundings. She meets a young man named Yassine, an Arab from the projects, and is soon attending concerts and whizzing around Paris on the back of his scooter. Céline doesn't want sex, however, and when she resists Yassine's advances, he is hopelessly confused. The young man has a brother, Nassir, who is a fervent fundamentalist believer in his own religion. It is when Nassir meets Céline that Dumont lets the drama begin. [Synopsis courtesy of TIFF]