email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

NAMUR 2012

Le Sac de Farine, or dreams of the homeland

by 

- Well-known casting director Kadija Leclere’s autobiographical feature debut stars great actresses Hafsia Herzi and Hiam Abbass

Sarah is 7. A pious little girl brought up by the sisters of a Belgian boarding school, she lives in fear of guilt and divine punishment. Rarely has anyone seen a little girl confess so much. One Friday night, a rather particular visitor comes to see Sarah. It’s her father, of whom he has no memory, who has come to take her to Paris for the weekend. But Sarah will not swap Alsemberg’s snow for the bright city lights of Paris, but for the earth of a small Moroccan village. By bringing her back to Morocco, her father says that he is doing his duty, basically to bring her up into a young woman ready for marriage. It's completely out of the question that Catholic Belgium educate his Muslim daughter. Being parachuted into this small Moroccan village is a real shock for Sarah, both in terms of space, time (a calendar tells her it’s the year 1395), and culture. Overwhelmed and lost in a country of which she knows neither the language nor the customs, Sarah will slowly learn to adapt to these new rules, without ever losing sight of the independence brewing within her. As a teenager, whereas her cousins and friends only have one fixation, to get married, she will end up taking from marriage what she had least expected it might offer: a return to her homeland.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The Bag of Flour [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 is Kadija Leclere’s feature debut. The well-known casting director (Mr Nobody [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaco Van Dormael
interview: Jaco Van Dormael
film profile
]
, The Barons [+see also:
film review
trailer
Interview with director and actress of…
interview: Nabil Ben Yadir
film profile
]
) had already dabbled in fiction, notably with Sarah, a successful short that already explored the autobiographical storyline in The Bag of Flour. To best serve her film, she cast two actresses with character, the young Hafsia Herzi, whose art at revolting is once again put forward in the film, and the always impeccable Hiam Abbas.

The film is jointly produced by Panache Productions and La Compagnie Cinématographique Européenne, who until now had made a name for themselves with large international co-productions such as Little White Lies [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and The Concert [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Radu Mihaileanu
film profile
]
. It received support from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the VAF, Bruxellimage, the RTBF, and the Moroccan Film Centre.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy