RED SOIL

Available for rental: Thursday, June 24, 2021 @ Noon PDT → Sunday, June 27 @ Noon PDT

MEET THE DIRECTOR!
Join our Zoom Discussion with actor FARID BENTOUMI, on Saturday, June 26 @ Noon PDT.
_If you purchase the film or the Virtual Festival Pass, you will receive the Zoom invitation. Questions about the discussion? Email kelstob@csus.edu.

Suggested short film pairing: Number 10

After losing her job as an emergency room nurse, Nour Hamadi (the luminous Zita Henrot, Fatima - SFFF 2016, The Hook-Up Plan on Netflix) returns to her small hometown and takes a position as a nurse at the chemical plant where her father, Slimane (Sami Bouajila, also in A Son streaming this year at the SFFF), has worked for 30 years.

As she settles into her new job, Nour becomes aware of multiples irregularities in the treatment of hazardous waste and the protection of workers. While her own father turns a blind eye in order to defend the factory that provides him with employment and serves as the region’s economic engine, Nour meets an investigative journalist (Céline Sallette) and finds herself faced with an impossible choice: becoming a whistleblower and risking alienating her entire family, or remaining silent.

With his second feature, Algerian-French director Farid Bentoumi takes a nuanced look at the conflict between idealism and pragmatism in a complex political, economic, and environmental context. The story is based on true events.

Co-produced by legendary Belgian filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne and featuring their favorite actor Olivier Gourmet, Red Soil establishes Bentoumi as a worthy heir to the Dardennes’ brand of socially relevant films.

This film is part of Young French Cinema, a program of UniFrance and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

Not Rated (all audiences).

Original Title: Rouge

Reviews

(A) whistleblower drama, co-produced by the Dardenne brothers, is buoyed by strong performances.
Allan Hunter — ScreenDaily

A pacey, socially engaged, family-focused thriller which follows in the wake of a whistleblower to examine the conflict between the fight against pollution and the defense of economic interests.
Fabien Lemercier — Cineuropa