Divines(2016)
dir. Houda Benyamina
Teen ambition where the only ladder is crime.
Where to watch: NetflixLetterboxd ↗
Dounia lives in a camp on the edge of Paris with her mother and her best friend Maimouna, and she wants out: money, respect, a different life. She starts working for a local dealer and sets her sights higher, and the friendship takes the pressure. Houda Benyamina's debut won the Caméra d'Or at Cannes in 2016.
Why it’s here
The film is about teenage ambition in a place where the only visible ladder is crime. What's punk is that it's furious about class and gender in the same breath, and its two lead women refuse to be anyone's sidekick. What's pedagogical is how it shows the same system that locks kids out also sells them a fantasy of getting in. Companion to Capernaum in the catalog.
Where This Film Lives
- Setting
- France
Read Alongside
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