White Material

WHITE MATERIAL is the evocative new African-set film from veteran filmmaker Claire Denis (Chocolat, Beau Travail, 35 Shots of Rum), starring the electrifying Isabelle Huppert (La Ceremonie, The Piano Teacher) as a woman fighting to save her family plantation, and way of life, in the face of rising civil unrest. It was featured in the 2009 Venice, Toronto and New York film festivals.

Twenty-two years after Chocolat, Claire Denis once again draws upon her colonial African childhood to craft this extraordinarily visceral, potent and very personal rumination on a society turned upside down. In an unnamed African country in the throes of a volatile regime change, Maria Vial (Huppert) is trying to sustain the coffee plantation she runs with her ex-husband André (Christophe Lambert), but unknown to her, he has other plans. The country is tenuously under the control of a rebel militia whose leader (Denis regular Isaach De Bankolé) is on the run. With the regular army preparing to regain control, French forces have moved out, warning the remaining white residents that they’re on their own if they stay behind. However, Maria refuses to be driven off the land, continuing to run the farm as the specter of impending tragedy looms.

“A stunning, rhythmic slow-burner about sociopolitical unrest, dehumanizing savagery,
and how both can ultimately lead to hubristic madness." – Aaron Hillis, Village Voice

"There's no better filmmaker working in the world right now." – Nick James, Sight & Sound

The National Board of Review named WHITE MATERIAL one of the ten best foreign films of 2010.