MIDWIVES
[SAGES-FEMMES]
After five years of studying to be professional midwives, Sofia (Khadija Kouyaté) and Louise (Héloïse Janjaud) begin their residency at a hospital, eager to perform "the most beautiful job in the world." The work soon proves to be unlike anything they studied, with a maternity ward crowded with patients and only a few midwives available to provide the necessary care. The whirlwind of scant resources, difficult births, and tough decisions puts unimaginable strain on Sofia and Louise's resolve and lifelong friendship. Embedding herself directly in a hospital and encouraging actual midwives to influence the script, play supporting roles and even inform the editing process, director Léa Fehner composes a dynamic and heartfelt ode to a systematically undervalued profession. Shot in a quasi-cinema verité style that engenders a great degree of sympathy for every person in the hospital, this is a rollercoaster of a film that underscores the fractures in the medical world and French society at large. Official Selection, 2023 AFI FEST and Berlin film festivals. DIR/SCR Léa Fehner; SCR Catherine Paillé; PROD Grégoire Debailly. France, 2023, color, 99 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 99 Minutes
Opening Date: Saturday, December 09, 2023
Genre: Drama