''Bitter Flowers'' is a 2017 internationally co-produced

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Olivier Meys Olivier Meys is a Belgian film director and screenwriter. He studied film and radio production at the Institute of Broadcasting Arts in Belgium and graduated from there in 2000. His first works were short films and documentary films which earned hi ...

in his directorial debut. It was written by Meys with Maarten Loix. The film had its world premiere at the

22nd Busan International Film Festival The 22nd Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 12 to October 21, 2017 at the Busan Cinema Center and hosted by Jang Dong-gun and Im Yoon-ah. A total of 300 films from 75 countries will be screened at the festival, including ...

. It was later screened at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

and the

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

before its theatrical release.

Plot

35-year old Lina, has the dream of a better life, so she leaves her husband and son in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

to go to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

.She wants to find work as a

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

and hopes to make about 2.000 Euros a month, to paid for her travel expenses and help her family at home. However after her arrival she soon finds out that she can only make a fraction of what she thought and she is forced to work as a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

to send money to her family. She lies about what she does, since she does not to give up on her dream of opening her own restaurant. But when a young relative arrives in France, hoping for easy money in childcare the story she constructed starts to fall apart. Lina's despair about misjudging the situation and the personal struggle she puts up in order to make up for her initial mistake, are the elements that function as the red thread of this drama.

Nominations and Accolades

''Bitter Flowers'' received four nominations at the

9th Magritte Awards The 9th Magritte Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie André Delvaux, honored the best films of 2018 in Belgium and took place on 2 February 2019 at the Square in the historic site of Mont des Arts, Brussels, beginning at 8:00 p.m. CET ...

, including

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

and

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

for Olivier Meys. It went on to win Best First Feature Film.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter Flowers 2017 films 2017 drama films Belgian drama films Chinese drama films Chinese-language films French drama films 2010s French-language films Magritte Award winners Swiss drama films Films about prostitution in Paris 2017 directorial debut films 2010s French films