''Sister Smile'' (original title: ''Sœur Sourire'') is a Belgian-French biographical

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

Stijn Coninx Stijn, Baron Coninx (born 21 February 1957) is a Belgian film director. Career He studied film directing at HRITCS (currently Ritcs, at Erasmus Hogeschool Brussel). Baron Coninx is best known for his film ''Daens'', which was nominated for a ...

and written by Coninx, Ariane Fert and Chris Vander Stappen. The film stars

Cécile de France Cécile de France (; born 17 July 1975) is a Belgian actress. After achieving success in French cinema hits such as ''L'Art (délicat) de la séduction'' (2001) and ''Irène'' (2002), she gained international attention for her lead roles in ''Hi ...

as Jeannine Deckers, also known as The Singing Nun. The film won the

Magritte Award for Best Costume Design The Magritte Award for Best Costume Design ( French: Magritte des meilleurs costumes) is an award presented annually by the Académie André Delvaux. It is one of the Magritte Awards, which were established to recognize excellence in Belgian cin ...

Plot

Belgium in the 1950s. Jeanine Deckers dreams of becoming a singer and of going to Africa as a missionary. Against her family's wishes, she joins a convent. However, the strict rules become too much for her. She rebels, especially when her guitar is taken from her and when she hears that she'll have to wait several years before being sent to Africa for missionary work. Despite being punished, she is eventually given back her guitar so she can entertain young people visiting the convent. One day she is filmed by Belgian television while singing and playing music to a group of youngsters. This launches her career as a commercially successful artist, yet everything she earns is sent to the convent and the head nuns keep her identity secret from the general public, while keeping her success secret from Deckers herself. Later, Deckers discovers the truth and eventually gets fed up with obeying the other nuns. She leaves the convent and moves in with her friend Annie who had made a pass at her when they were younger but whom she rejected. Deckers desperately tries to get her career back on the road but she is told that she cannot use her stage name "Soeur Sourire" or "Singing Nun" because the convent owns the rights to it. She starts performing under her own name and goes on a tour in

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, but due to her controversial song about

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

nobody wants to sign her anymore for concerts. Deckers is reduced to singing in small strip clubs and gets depressed. Rejected by both the convent and her own family, Deckers returns to Annie and falls in love. Pursued by the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

of Belgium for taxes on her first album, which the Church didn't pay, she and Annie commit suicide together.

Cast

as Jeanine Deckers (The Singing Nun) *

Filip Peeters Filip Peeters or Philip Peeters (born 2 December 1962) is a Flemish actor. He is well known for his work in the television series ''Salamander'' as Paul Gerardi and ''Zone Stad'' as Didier Francks. He is one of a few Flemish actors who have been ...

as Antoine Brusson *

Tsilla Chelton Tsilla Chelton (21 June 1919 – 15 July 2012) was a French actress of theatre and film, famous for playing the main role in 1990 film Tatie Danielle, in which she was nominated for a Cesar award and as an elderly Dominican in Soeur Sourire. B ...

as Oldest Dominican *

Sandrine Blancke Sandrine Blancke (born 6 November 1978) is a Belgium French actress. She started her acting career as a child actor at the age of 13 in the 1991 film ''Toto le héros''. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 1st Magritte Awards. ...

as Annie *

Jan Decleir Jan Decleir (born as ''Jan Amanda Gustaaf Decleir'' on 14 February 1946) is a prolific Belgian movie and stage actor born in Niel, Antwerp. Career He had his first big role in Fons Rademakers's ''Mira'' (1971). Since then, he has appeared in ...

as Lucien Deckers *

Jo Deseure Jo Deseure is a Belgian stage and film actress. After developing an interest in acting, Deseure enrolled at the Institut Supérieur des Arts in Brussels and graduated from there in 1984. She later began working in theatre and became a regular ...

as Gabrielle Deckers *

Marie Kremer Marie Kremer (born 15 April 1982 in Uccle) is a Belgian actress. Her first leading role was in the 2003 movie ''I Always Wanted to be a Saint'' (''J'ai toujours voulu être une sainte'')., for which she won the Créteil International Women's Fil ...

as Françoise *

Christelle Cornil Christelle Cornil (born 28 August 1977) is a Belgian actress. Her acting credits include ''Le Vélo de Ghislain Lambert'', '' Soeur Sourire'', ''Illegal'', '' Mr. Average'', '' Beauties at War'', ''Julie & Julia'', '' OSS 117: Lost in Rio'', ''My ...

as Sister Christine *

David Murgia David Murgia (born 16 March 1988) is a Belgian actor. He started his career in theatre in the early 2000s and has since gone on to appear in films. Theater Filmography References External links * 1988 births 20th-century Belgian ma ...

as Louvain *

Eric Godon Eric Godon (born 7 February 1959) is a Belgian character actor, director and writer. Recognisable by his burly appearance and deep voice, he is perhaps best known in English language circles, for his roles in ''In Bruges'', and '' The Missing'' ...

as The bailiff

References

External links

Soeur Sourire at IMDB
{{Stijn Coninx Films directed by Stijn Coninx 2009 films 2000s French-language films Biographical films about singers Films set in Belgium Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s Films set in the 1970s Films set in the 1980s Lesbian-related films Films about Catholic nuns Films about Catholicism Films about rebels Films about suicide 2009 biographical drama films Belgian biographical drama films French biographical drama films Cultural depictions of pop musicians Cultural depictions of Belgian women 2009 drama films Biographical films about religious figures French-language Belgian films 2000s French films