Theatrical release poster
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New Book about Cannes Film Fest at 80! (May 2027)
Camera d’Or Winners, 1978-Present
Alambrista! (1978), US
2. Northern Lights (1979), US
3. Adrien’s Story (1980), French
4. Desperado City (1981), West German
5. Half a Life (1982), French
6. The Princess (1983), Hungarian
7. Stranger Than Paradise (1984), US
8. Oriana (1985), Venezuela
9. Noir et Blanc (1986), French (woman)
10. Robinsonada or My English Grandfather (1987), Soviet-Georgian
11. Salaam Bombay! (1988), US-Imndoa (woman)
12. My 20th Century (1989), Hungary (woman)
13. Freeze Die Come to Life (1990)
14. Toto the Hero (1991), Belgium
15. Mac (1992), US
16. The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), Vietnam
17. Coming to Terms with the Dead (1994)
18. The White Balloon (1995), Iran
19. Love Serenade (1996), Australia (woman)
20. Suzaku (1997)
21. Slam (1998), US
22. Marana Simhasanam (1999), Iran
23. Tie
Djomeh (2000)
A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)
24. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001), Canadian
25. Seaside (2002)
26. Reconstruction (2003), Denmark
27. Or (My Treasure) (2004), Israel (woman)
28. Tie
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), US (woman); The Forsaken Land (2005)
30. 12:08 East of Bucharest (2006), Romania
31. Jellyfish (2007), Israel (woman)
32. Hunger (2008), UK (Black)
33. Samson and Delilah (2009)
34. Año bisiesto (Leap Year) (2010), Mexico
35. Las Acacias (2011), Argentine
36. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), US
37. Ilo Ilo (2013)
38. Party Girl (2014)
39. Land and Shade (2015)
40. Divines (2016), French
41. Montparnasse Bienvenue (2017), French
42. Girl (2018), Belgium (Gay director)
43. Our Mothers (2019), Guatamala
44. Murina (2021)
45. War Pony (2022), US (woman)
46. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023)
47. Armand (2024)
48. The President’s Cake (2025)
49. ? (to be announced May 24, 2026)
Houda Benyamina directed Divines, a French crime drama that screened in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2016 Cannes Film Fest, where it won the Caméra d’Or.
Dounia is a teenage girl living on the outskirts of Paris with her mother and aunt. She and her friend Maimouna hustle for money, shoplifting from supermarkets and then reselling their wares to classmates. The two girls have a secret hiding place in the catwalk of a local theatre where they observe dance auditions.
At school, Dounia is expected to be trained as a receptionist. She rebels against her teacher, ridiculing her for her lack of money and vowing to be more successful.
Rebecca, a local drug dealer, shows the kids a video from a trip to Thailand and plans to move there for the growing sex tourism. Determined to be part of Rebecca’s gang, Dounia observes a drug deal with Samir.
Samir drives Dounia and Maimouna to a nightclub. When she gets home, Dounia finds Samir having sex with her mother. She scolds her mother, then burns Samir’s mother’s car. When the firefighters show up Dounia throws glass bottles at them and starts a riot, leading to her arrest.
At the station, Maimouna and Dounia are loudly berated by Maimouna’s devout Muslim parents and an angry Rebecca scolds Dounia for getting in trouble with the police.
Dounia goes to Djigui to get her money back in order to gain back Rebecca’s favor. Djigui tells her he has been hired as the principal dancer in the show and gives her tickets to watch him perform, along with the money. Instead of going to see him, Dounia goes with Reda to a club. He takes her to his apartment and when he leaves to take a shower Dounia begins searching for his secret cache of money. She is discovered by Reda, who savagely beats her before attempting to rape her. Dounia fights back, knocking out Reda and then manages to locate the money. She leaves some of the money with her mother and hides some for Maimouna, intending to leave on a dance tour with Djigui.
Rebecca is holding Maimouna hostage until Dounia returns. Dounia brings the money to Rebecca, but she notices that some of it is missing and douses Dounia with gasoline. Samir realizes that the money is at her mother’s home and leaves to get it.
Enraged, Dounia throws a lighter and the room catches fire with them locked inside. Rebecca escapes and Maimouna urges Dounia to leave, while the money burns behind them.
The firemen arrive, but they are not allowed to fight fires without the presence of riot police. Dounia begs them to save her friend, but they are unmoved, and the building explodes, killing Maimouna.
In the last shot, a distraught Dounia is watching the unfolding of a riot.
Divines was released on Netflix worldwide (except in France) on November 18 2016.
Cast
Oulaya Amamra as Dounia
Déborah Lukumuena as Maimouna
Kévin Mischel as Djigui
Jisca Kalvanda as Rebecca
Yasin Houicha as Samir
Majdouline Idrissi as Myriam
Mounir Margoum as Cassandra
Farid Larbi as Reda
Credits:
Directed by Houda Benyamina
Written by Romain Compingt, Benyamina, Malik Rumeau
Produced by Marc-Benoît Créancier
Cinematography Julien Poupard
Edited by Loïc Lallemand, Vincent Tricon
Music by Demusmaker
Distributed by Diaphana Films
Release dates: May 19, 2016 (Cannes); August 31, 2016 (France)
Running time: 105 minutes
Budget $2.6 million
Box office $2.3 million
New Book about Cannes Film Fest at 80! (May 2027)
Camera d’Or Winners, 1978-Present
Alambrista! (1978), US
2. Northern Lights (1979), US
3. Adrien’s Story (1980), French
4. Desperado City (1981), West German
5. Half a Life (1982), French
6. The Princess (1983), Hungarian
7. Stranger Than Paradise (1984), US
8. Oriana (1985), Venezuela
9. Noir et Blanc (1986), French (woman)
10. Robinsonada or My English Grandfather (1987), Soviet-Georgian
11. Salaam Bombay! (1988), US-Imndoa (woman)
12. My 20th Century (1989), Hungary (woman)
13. Freeze Die Come to Life (1990)
14. Toto the Hero (1991), Belgium
15. Mac (1992), US
16. The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), Vietnam
17. Coming to Terms with the Dead (1994)
18. The White Balloon (1995), Iran
19. Love Serenade (1996), Australia (woman)
20. Suzaku (1997)
21. Slam (1998), US
22. Marana Simhasanam (1999), Iran
23. Tie
Djomeh (2000)
A Time for Drunken Horses (2000)
24. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001), Canadian
25. Seaside (2002)
26. Reconstruction (2003), Denmark
27. Or (My Treasure) (2004), Israel (woman)
28. Tie
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005), US (woman); The Forsaken Land (2005)
30. 12:08 East of Bucharest (2006), Romania
31. Jellyfish (2007), Israel (woman)
32. Hunger (2008), UK (Black)
33. Samson and Delilah (2009)
34. Año bisiesto (Leap Year) (2010), Mexico
35. Las Acacias (2011), Argentine
36. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), US
37. Ilo Ilo (2013)
38. Party Girl (2014)
39. Land and Shade (2015)
40. Divines (2016), French
41. Montparnasse Bienvenue (2017), French
42. Girl (2018), Belgium (Gay director)
43. Our Mothers (2019), Guatamala
44. Murina (2021)
45. War Pony (2022), US (woman)
46. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023)
47. Armand (2024)
48. The President’s Cake (2025)
49. ? (to be announced May 24, 2026)
