La Saison des Hibiscus
Director: Eleonore Goldberg
Canada, 2020
10 minutes
Distributor: La distributrice de films
Producer: Nicolas Dufour-Laperrière
Zaire, January 1993. Rachel's family, an 8-year-old French girl, lives in Kinshasa in a house overlooking the Congo River. Following the usual routine (shopping, lunch, nap ...) the city is subjected to violent looting by Zairean soldiers. Luckily, Rachel's family escapes their violence. She, her mother and her sister take refuge at the French Embassy and wait for the events to calm down. In spite of the surrounding turmoil, Rachel explores in the gardens of the Embassy, arises a new universe and new emotions. The looting stops and Rachel finds her home and her daily life. In the discovery of bodies, of hers as of others, of life and death, of sensuality and fragility, Rachel remembers. She writes, she draws. The ghosts of Zaire resurface as she tries to tell ... and then forgets.