In French Algeria, after WWII, three daughters of wealthy settlers begin their adult lives. Zon marries an often absent sailor. Malene's husband, Gildas, refuses to work in the farm, so she has to take care of everything. Gritte, the youngest, does not want to marry and is a nurse for the natives. We will follow their three different destinies.
Direction
Roüan's unflinching gaze at women's swallowed rage
Acting
Three leads embodying different escapes from the same trap
Production
Sun-drenched Algeria as beautiful prison

Director
Brigitte Roüan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during Algeria's painful 1990s civil war, the film's colonial post-mortem felt dangerously timely. Roüan shot in Morocco as filming in Algeria was impossible.
Brigitte Roüan cast herself as Malène after struggling to find an actress willing to play such unsympathetic desperation.