Our Lady of the Nile

'Notre-Dame du Nil', 2019

Set in 1973, this coming-of-age portrait follows a group of young Rwandan girls at a Belgian-run Catholic boarding school, taking inspiration from true events that would come to foreshadow the 1994 genocide during the Rwandan Civil War. Many of the girls belong to elite families, while others hold less privilege; further division is sown by ballooning anti-Tutsi rhetoric under existing Hutu rule. The terrain is tense, but in the foreground lies a bewitching yet unassuming story of colonial refusal, flanked by adolescent mischief and curiosity that is surely typical but has, in this case, much higher stakes.

Set in 1973, this coming-of-age portrait follows a group of young Rwandan girls at a Belgian-run Catholic boarding school, taking inspiration from true events that would come to foreshadow the 1994 genocide during the Rwandan Civil War. Many of the girls belong to elite families, while others hold less privilege; further division is sown by ballooning anti-Tutsi rhetoric under existing Hutu rule. The terrain is tense, but in the foreground lies a bewitching yet unassuming story of colonial refusal, flanked by adolescent mischief and curiosity that is surely typical but has, in this case, much higher stakes.

Director

Atiq Rahimi

Runtime

93 minutes

Type

Feature

Genre

Drama

Keywords

female protagonist, africa, rwanda, central africa

Movie poster image
Our Lady of the Nile

Atiq Rahimi, 2019

Is this your film?

Is this your film?

General Information

Rating

Loading...

Countries

Belgium, France, Monaco, Rwanda

Languages

French, Kinyarwanda

Awards

El Gouna Film Festival

Nominated

2019

Feature Narrative Competition

Golden Star

Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival

Winner

2020

Crystal Bear for the Best Film

14plus competition

Storyline

A coming-of-age story about of a group of Rwandan schoolgirls at a Belgian-run Catholic boarding school.

Set in 1973, this coming-of-age portrait follows a group of young Rwandan girls at a Belgian-run Catholic boarding school, taking inspiration from true events that would come to foreshadow the 1994 genocide during the Rwandan Civil War. Many of the girls belong to elite families, while others hold less privilege; further division is sown by ballooning anti-Tutsi rhetoric under existing Hutu rule. The terrain is tense, but in the foreground lies a bewitching yet unassuming story of colonial refusal, flanked by adolescent mischief and curiosity that is surely typical but has, in this case, much higher stakes.

No displayable synopsis available

Summary

Set in 1973, this coming-of-age portrait follows a group of young Rwandan girls at a Belgian-run Catholic boarding school, taking inspiration from true events that would come to foreshadow the 1994 genocide during the Rwandan Civil War. Many of the girls belong to elite families, while others hold less privilege; further division is sown by ballooning anti-Tutsi rhetoric under existing Hutu rule. The terrain is tense, but in the foreground lies a bewitching yet unassuming story of colonial refusal, flanked by adolescent mischief and curiosity that is surely typical but has, in this case, much higher stakes.

Synopsis

No displayable synopsis available

Logline

A coming-of-age story about of a group of Rwandan schoolgirls at a Belgian-run Catholic boarding school.

Cast & crew

Cast

Amanda Mugabezaki

Actor/Actress

Albina Kirenga

Actor/Actress

Malaika Uwamahoro

Actor/Actress

Crew

Director

Scholastique Mukasonga

Screenwriter

Atiq Rahimi

Screenwriter

Related films


Matchmaking

What is the title of your film?

Type in your film's title

Choose a film to find matches for

Choose one of your film that you're already created, or create a new one to find matches for.

How long is your film?

Tell us your film’s duration

min.

What type of category does your film fall into?

Select one from the following list

What is the genre of your film?

You can select multiple genres

What should be the main focus of your festival strategy?

Please select one option

Monetary award

Select one from the following list

Festival qualifications that you're interested in

You can select multiple options

How much money would you spend on festival submissions?

Define us your submission budget

EUR

Start date of submission

Please enter a date when you plan to start submitting your film to festivals