Passion of Augustine, The

Details
Genre:
Drama
Run Times:
103 min
Language:
French (w. English Subtitles)
Cast:
Céline Bonnier, Lysandre Ménard, Diane Lavallée, Valérie Blais, Pierrette Robitaille, Marie Tifo
Director:
Léa Pool
Writer:
Marie Vien, Léa Pool
Plot Summary

Simone Beaulieu, better known as Mother Augustine, runs a convent school for girls in the 1960s. She has turned the little convent into a musical treasure where the students have won every prestigious music competition in the region. When her talented but rebellious niece joins the convent and the government threatens to shut down the school in favour of public education, her world is suddenly turned upside down. She and her fellow nuns are forced to confront the waves of modernity and Mother Augustine herself must search her soul for a new calling. Can she accept her past in order to move forward? Or will she perish with tradition?

Quotes

“The combination of nuns, teens and let’s-put-on-a-show plot mechanics might have easily resulted in a conventionally cute crowdpleaser, but to Pool and co-scenarist Marie Vien’s credit, this middleweight tale with lots of classical music provides a good dose of inspirational uplift without ever seeming to reach for it in the obvious, expected ways.”
-Dennis Harvey, Variety

Reviews

Variety – Film Review ‘The Passion of Augustine’

Festivals and Awards

Newport Beach International Film Festival, USA, April 2015
*Winner, Jury Award: Best Feature Film
*Winner, Jury Award: Best Actress – Celine Bonnier
*Winner, Jury Award : Best Supporting Actress – Lysandre Menard
*Winner, Jury Award : Best Director – Lea Pool
*Winner, Jury Award : Best Screenplay – Marie Vien and Lea Pool

Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea, April 2015

Seattle International Film Festival, USA, May 2015

Shanghai International Film Festival, China, June 2015

Denver French Language Film Festival, USA, June 2015

Stony Brook Film Festival, USA, July 2015

Giffoni Film Festival, Italy, July 2015

Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême, France, August 2015
*Winner: Valois Magelis (Prix du public)

Zurich International Film Festival, Switzerland, September 2015

Aspen Filmfest, USA, September 2015

Mill Valley Film Festival, USA, October 2015
*Winner – Audience Favorite, Gold Award – 2015 World Cinema Indie

Int’l Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg, Germany, October 2015

Festival du film de Sarlat, France, November 2015

Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival, USA, November 2015

Kolkata International Film Festival, India, November 2015
*Jury Award – Special Mention

Festival du film de Sarlat, France, November 2015

Semaine des Indés de Montmorency, France, November 2015

Festival du cinéma et musique de film de La Baule, France, November 2015

Festival les Oeillades d’Albi, France, November 2015

Festival de cinéma de Cotignac, France, December 2015