World Cinema Series - "Saint Omer"

Thursday, March 27, 2025 @ 6:00pm

Monmouth University - Pollak Theatre
400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ 07764

Free and open to the public

Rama, a literature professor and novelist, travels from Paris to Saint-Omer to observe the trial of Laurence Coly and 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 and has a complex relationship with her own Senegalese immigrant mother, feels a personal connection to Coly. 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.

There will be a post screening Q&A hosted by Marina Vujnovic with special guest speaker Prof. Julius Adekunle.