GOD’S OFFICES

GOD’S OFFICES (LES BUREAUX DE DIEU), 2008

France, Belgium| DCP, Color, 122’ |French

Director: Claire Simon
Cast: Anne Alvaro, Nathalie Baye, Michel Boujenah

Showing conversations between counselors and women of all ages, ethnicities, and religions who come together in a busy family-planning center in Paris, the film harks back to Claire Simon’s documentary The Patients, in which she focused on the relationship between doctor and patient. Teenagers who can’t speak to their families about sex, a girl whose boyfriend wants proof that she’s a virgin, a woman who’s afraid her husband will find out about her extramarital affair, and counselors who listen to them and then consult with one another on the balcony... Stars and non-professional actresses come together in this film, in which the line between documentary and fiction is seamlessly blurred.