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?
“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
Variety – Film Review ‘The Passion of Augustine’
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