2009, IFC Films, 106 min, France/Cameroon, Dir: Claire Denis

Returning to the African continent on which she was raised, Claire Denis directs yet another ruminative examination of race relations in a colonial environment, this time set against the backdrop of an unspecified civil war. French farmer Maria Vial (Isabelle Huppert) is given a stern warning to abandon her coffee plantation and its impending harvest and seek refuge for her family before violence begins. But stubbornness and white privilege keep Maria trudging forward, as she attempts to keep her family together while seeking the help of local workers to finish the harvest. Featuring Christopher Lambert and Isaach De Bankolé. “A striking film filled with images that sometimes reveal their full meaning only when their beauty curdles in the chain of signification.” - Manohla Dargis, New York Times.

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